Meaning
To attract more attention or praise than anyone or anything else at an event, especially unexpectedly or from a minor role; used of performers, guests, children, animals and gadgets alike. 'Steal the show' is the more common form, and major dictionaries treat show, scene and spotlight as interchangeable objects of the same verb. Informal and affectionate; it praises the surpriser while gently mocking whoever was upstaged. Regional use: General English (theatrical origin).
Origin
Theatrical and 20th-century, as commonly claimed. Christine Ammer's American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms glosses 'steal the show' (also steal the scene, steal the spotlight) as outshining everyone else in a performance or at some event, and dates it to the first half of the 1900s. The image needs little unpacking: a supporting player walks off with the audience's applause while the nominal leads stand by, and the metaphor transferred early to any gathering with a crowd and a supposed star, from weddings to product launches. No specific first print citation is known to the sources checked; the early-1900s dating rests on Ammer's period label rather than a quotable occurrence, so the true first use could be somewhat earlier.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- scene-stealer
- steal the show
- steal the spotlight
- stole the show
Usage Examples
- The intern stole the scene at the product launch by fixing the frozen demo screen mid-presentation.
- Critics agreed the silent terrier stole the show in an otherwise ponderous adaptation.
- At her own retirement dinner, the chair's teenage daughter stole the show with a short jazz violin set.