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Glite Dictionary
🎭 Away from stage 🎭 Not on stage 🤫 In private 🎭 Hidden stage area
offstage

offstage

1 4.2
An area of the stage not visible to the audience where actors or props wait
  • noun
  • /ˈɔfˌsteɪdʒ/
translation icon : bastidores
  • The props were stored offstage until they were needed for the next scene.

Examples

  • (CMT Offstage keeps a 24/7 watch on everything that's happening with country music artists behind the scenes and out of the spotlight.)

    Blog text (13)

  • Pozzo (offstage): Baggage, fool!

    Fiction book (1994)

  • The cast members waited offstage until it was their turn to perform.

  • During the rehearsal, the director gave instructions to the actors offstage.

Synonyms

backstage
vsoffstage
38 3.5

The area behind a stage where actors get ready

is mainly for waiting to appear rather than general preparations
wing
vsoffstage
  • Jargon
30 5.8

An area at the side of a stage where actors wait out of sight

is a nearby unseen area where people or props wait before appearing

Antonyms

onstage
95 3.5

On the part of a stage that the audience can see during a performance

How Visible

center stage
  • US
8 3.9
onstage
95 3.5
offstage
1 4.2

Surface Forms

offstage singular
offstages plural

Morphology

offstage = stage (transparent) = off + stage

Meaning is directly derived from the clear combination 'off' + 'stage' meaning 'away from/on the area not visible to the audience'. [Postprocessing: moved 'off' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

Offstage comes from the parts off- 'away' and stage 'the place where actors perform', so it names the area 'away' from the part of the stage the audience can see.