fourth wall

noun

: an imaginary wall (as at the opening of a modern stage proscenium) that keeps performers from recognizing or directly addressing their audience

Examples of fourth wall in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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His songs often cheekily broke the fourth wall, exposing the industry and its bigwigs’ desire to infringe their commercial logic upon his art. Emma Madden, Vulture, 8 Jan. 2025 In breaking the fourth wall to address the situation, the director might have conveyed the futility of creation in a time of ruin, but the set-up to her short’s awful punchline ultimately serves to underscore the power of trying. David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 6 Jan. 2025 Yourcenar called this work a rehearsal of the author’s own death, almost as if Mishima and his disciple Morita were breaking the fourth wall, but the film remains a fantasy, an illusion, an artistic exercise. Ian Buruma, The New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2025 Dropping the fourth wall but also remaining conscious enough to present the most eye-catching image possible is perhaps a step too magical for artists already achieving Billboard success. Marcus K. Dowling, The Tennessean, 23 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for fourth wall 

Word History

First Known Use

1807, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of fourth wall was in 1807

Dictionary Entries Near fourth wall

Cite this Entry

“Fourth wall.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fourth%20wall. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.

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