background

verb

backgrounded; backgrounding; backgrounds

transitive verb

1

: to provide with background

… a richly backgrounded study of a silent movie star …

—Hollis Alpert

2

: to give less attention or emphasis to (something) : to place (something) in the background

Graham peoples her novel with genuine, endearing characters and keeps the grisly murders tactfully backgrounded …

—Publishers Weekly

Examples of background in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

A little bit Brian Eno, a little bit Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru, that melancholic piano melody backgrounded wistful beach B-roll and day-in-my-lifes, a bittersweet evocation whose virality began with a dog meme. —Linnie Greene, Pitchfork, 29 Apr. 2026

Settler colonial violence defines the Seattle Center totem pole while settler colonial theft backgrounds the one in Pioneer Square. —Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 29 Apr. 2026

The eighteenth-century revolutionary’s horse remained, riderless, backgrounded by bright-green leaves and a tangy blue sky. —Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2026

Revenge of the Sith, the culmination of the Skywalker tragedy that backgrounds the original trilogy, culminates with a fateful, heartbreaking duel — and the birth of two profoundly important twins. —Katie Rife, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1768, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing background

• background music
• background noise
• background radiation
• cosmic background radiation
• cosmic microwave background
• in the background
• into the background
• on background

Rhymes for background

• abound
• aground
• around
• astound
• campground
• clothbound
• confound
• earthbound
• eastbound
• expound
• fairground
• foreground

Kids Definition

background

noun

back·​ground

ˈbak-ˌgrau̇nd

1

: the scenery or ground that is behind a main figure or object (as in a painting)

2

: a position that attracts little attention

always tries to keep in the background

3

a

: the setting within which something takes place

b

: the events leading up to a situation

c

: information needed to understand a problem or situation

d

: the total of a person's experience, knowledge, and education

4

a

: a somewhat steady level of radiation in the natural environment (as from cosmic rays or radio activity)

b

: undesired sound that is heard in a system (as in radio or a tape recording) that produces sound from other sources