Synonyms for background
ˈbækˌgraʊndback·ground

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:3.0 / 1 vote

1. backgroundnoun

   a person's social heritage: previous experience or training

   "he is a lawyer with a sports background"

   Synonyms:
   setting, background signal, scope, backcloth, screen background, desktop, background knowledge, backdrop, ground

   Antonyms:
   highlight, play up, foreground, spotlight

2. background, groundnoun

   the part of a scene (or picture) that lies behind objects in the foreground

   "he posed her against a background of rolling hills"

   Synonyms:
   screen background, setting, ground, priming coat, primer, background signal, soil, undercoat, basis, solid ground, dry land, primer coat, footing, land, priming, backcloth, background knowledge, scope, reason, flat coat, backdrop, desktop, earth, terra firma

   Antonyms:
   play up, foreground, spotlight, highlight

3. background, background knowledgenoun

   information that is essential to understanding a situation or problem

   "the embassy filled him in on the background of the incident"

   Synonyms:
   setting, background signal, scope, backcloth, screen background, desktop, background knowledge, backdrop, ground

   Antonyms:
   foreground, spotlight, highlight, play up

4. background, background signalnoun

   extraneous signals that can be confused with the phenomenon to be observed or measured

   "they got a bad connection and could hardly hear one another over the background signals"

   Synonyms:
   setting, background signal, scope, backcloth, screen background, desktop, background knowledge, backdrop, ground

   Antonyms:
   foreground, spotlight, highlight, play up

5. backgroundnoun

   relatively unimportant or inconspicuous accompanying situation

   "when the rain came he could hear the sound of thunder in the background"

   Synonyms:
   setting, background signal, scope, backcloth, screen background, desktop, background knowledge, backdrop, ground

   Antonyms:
   play up, spotlight, highlight, foreground

6. setting, background, scopenoun

   the state of the environment in which a situation exists

   "you can't do that in a university setting"

   Synonyms:
   place setting, screen background, scene, compass, ground, telescope, background signal, circumstance, reach, cathode-ray oscilloscope, ambit, setting, range, mise en scene, oscilloscope, backcloth, background knowledge, scope, mount, orbit, backdrop, desktop, context, stage setting

   Antonyms:
   play up, highlight, foreground, spotlight

7. background, desktop, screen backgroundnoun

   (computer science) the area of the screen in graphical user interfaces against which icons and windows appear

   Synonyms:
   setting, background signal, scope, backcloth, screen background, desktop, background knowledge, backdrop, ground

   Antonyms:
   foreground, play up, highlight, spotlight

8. backdrop, background, backclothverb

   scenery hung at back of stage

   Synonyms:
   setting, background signal, scope, backcloth, desktop, background knowledge, screen background, backdrop, ground

   Antonyms:
   play up, highlight, foreground, spotlight

9. background, play down, downplayverb

   understate the importance or quality of

   "he played down his royal ancestry"

   Synonyms:
   downplay, minimize, play down, understate, minimise

   Antonyms:
   highlight, foreground, play up, spotlight

Matched Categories

1. • Accompaniment
   • Computer Science
   • Environment
   • Heritage
   • Noise
   • Screen
   • View

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "background":

   context, backdrop, backgrounds, historic, substantive, fund, historical, history, basic, ambient, origin, reminder, merits, reference, basis, general, contextual, bottom, base, historique, recall, information, record, environment, origins, substance, core, light, framework

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How to use background in a sentence?

1. George F. Kennan:

   It is an undeniable privilege of every man to prove himself right in the thesis that the world is his enemy; for if he reiterates it frequently enough and makes it the background of his conduct he is bound eventually to be right.

2. Amanda Milleren:

   In the Sunday newspaper there was a four- or five-page spread for employment advertisements and almost every one of them said, 'Must pass a background check and a drug screen.' So there's a lot of people who are unemployed as a result.

3. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio:

   Tim is a leader not just in South Carolina but around the country. He embodies the American Dream. He embodies so much of what our party needs to be about, he doesn't come from a privileged background and neither do I and we are both conservatives because we know that conservatism is the right way forward -- especially for people who are trying to make it.

4. Pete Buttigieg:

   We can get background checks done now. We can get red flag laws done now. We can get something done about the new sale of assault weapons now. We can not wait for these other debates to play out -- even if they're healthy debates -- to get that action done because Our Lives are on the line.

5. Suneeti Nathani Iyer:

   When adults are in the presence of a lot of background noise, we are able to ignore it and focus on what is relevant, infants appear to not be as good at filtering out background noise and focusing on relevant information.