What does ‘steal someone's thunder’ mean?
To “steal someone's thunder” means to take credit for someone else's idea or upstage them. Brewer's records the origin: the dramatist John Dennis invented a new device for stage thunder for his 1704 play; when the play flopped and a rival theatre used his device, he cried, 'They will not let my play run, but they steal my thunder!'
Origin
- Brewer's records the origin: the dramatist John Dennis invented a new device for stage thunder for his 1704 play; when the play flopped and a rival theatre used his device, he cried, 'They will not let my play run, but they steal my thunder!'
How to use it
- Common warning against upstaging.
- Example: Don't announce it now — you'll steal her thunder.
Source:
Last verified: 2026-07-18
- Definitions and origins are drawn from public-domain reference works, primarily Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898), with modern usage notes clearly marked.