to steal one's thunder
Preserved but no longer current.
To forestall him; or to adopt his own special methods as one's own. The phrase comes from the anecdote of John Dennis (1657-1734) the critic and playwright who invented an effective device for producing stage thunder, for his play Appius and Virginia. The play was a failure and was withdrawn, but shortly afterwards Dennis heard his thunder used in a performance of Macbeth.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to steal one's thunder” mean?
To forestall him; or to adopt his own special methods as one's own. The phrase comes from the anecdote of John Dennis (1657-1734) the critic and playwright who invented an effective device for producing stage thunder, for his play Appius and Virginia. The play was a failure and was withdrawn, but shortly afterwards Dennis heard his thunder used in a performance of Macbeth.
Is “to steal one's thunder” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.