backgrounds

noun

plural of background
1
as in backdrops
the physical conditions or features that form the setting against which something is viewed they got married on a mountain top with the sunset as background

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in settings
the place and time in which the action for a portion of a dramatic work (as a movie) is set the background of that movie is the World War II era

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of backgrounds With more than a decade of experience across talent representation, development, and production, Hedgpeth most recently served as Co-Founder and Manager at Bold Media and Management, representing creatives from underrepresented backgrounds. — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2026 Depending on their backgrounds, the company's FDE training and onboarding can take 30 to 90 days, Ramalingam said. — Barbara Booth, CNBC, 15 Oct. 2026 Their replacements, which include Ross Douthat and contributors like Ariel Levy and Sebastian Junger, have top-shelf backgrounds, but also little experience working on a weekly TV program that emphasizes long-form enterprise journalism. — Brian Steinberg, Variety, 14 Oct. 2026 The company was founded by technical experts with backgrounds at Tsinghua University. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 14 Oct. 2026 The dense housing reflects the backgrounds and histories of people who have arrived from all over the world, by choice or by circumstance, and the mixture has produced a culture all its own. — Sam Fleischner, IndieWire, 14 Oct. 2026 Danza Alegría welcomes people from different backgrounds, using dance as a way to bring cultures together and build understanding. — Ashley Paul, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026 The icon’s not the only thing that’s been drained of color, either — 9to5Mac also says Apple Music widgets now have black backgrounds and the app now uses a splash of blue in the tab bar to show the active tab. — Stevie Bonifield, The Verge, 13 Oct. 2026 Today, the customer base reflects the diversity of the surrounding neighborhood, with shoppers of all backgrounds stopping in for specialty products, custom cuts and prepared foods. — Sara Rosenthal, Denver Post, 11 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for backgrounds
  1. backdrops
  2. settings
  3. scenes
Noun
  • Warm cream, olive, charcoal blue, taupe, and mulberry create polished living room backdrops.
    — Ashlyn Needham, The Spruce, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Over two days, Cal Expo’s The Cove outdoor event center was draped with blue-and-white in honor of Bavaria, with fall leaves and photo backdrops scattered between long tables and lawn games.
    — Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of backdrops
Noun
  • The meta-analysis found that some associations varied depending on whether passive social media use occurred in general settings or online groups.
    — Ashley Lynch, Sacbee.com, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The genre gave him considerably more freedom to invent architectural settings, mixing classical ruins, waterways, and figures into elaborate imaginary landscapes.
    — Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of settings
Noun
  • The team also captured scenes of Shihadeh’s family and their groves, which include a 15-acre grove in Beit Ijza and a 14-acre grove in Biddu.
    — Noor Lobad, Footwear News, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Back at the bottom of the home screen, tap the Automations button to create scenes that control the UltraSlim and other connectLife devices simultaneously.
    — John R. Delaney, PC Magazine, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of scenes

Browse Nearby Words

background
backgrounds
backhand
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Cite this Entry

“Backgrounds.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backgrounds. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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