Meaning & use
steal someone's thunder
Last updated
Meaning
phraseidiom
to do something that takes attention away from someone else, especially when they planned to announce or do it
Grammar: Takes an object: steal someone's thunder. The possessive pronoun changes: steal my/his/her/their thunder.
Patterns
- steal someone's thunder
- steal the thunder from someone
I was going to announce my engagement, but my sister stole my thunder by getting engaged first.
The manager stole his team's thunder by presenting their ideas as his own.
She didn't mean to steal your thunder; she just got excited.
Common combinations
- steal someone's thunder
- He stole my thunder by telling the joke before I could.
- steal the thunder from someone
- The new product stole the thunder from their competitor's launch.
- accidentally steal someone's thunder
- I accidentally stole her thunder by mentioning her news first.
- try to steal someone's thunder
- He tried to steal the boss's thunder at the meeting.
Synonyms and how they differ
- upstage
- This verb means to take attention away from someone, often by doing something more impressive; it is more formal and often used in theater.
- outshine
- This verb means to be more impressive than someone else; it focuses on being better, not on taking their planned moment.
Opposites
Commonly confused: steal someone's thunder or steal the show?
steal someone's thunder vs steal the show
'Steal the show' means to be the most impressive performer; 'steal someone's thunder' means to take away someone's planned attention.
Practice
My brother announced his promotion at my birthday party and really ___.
Choose one answer.
'Stole my thunder' is the correct idiom for taking attention away from someone. The other options are made-up phrases that do not exist in English.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “steal someone's thunder”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.