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. Vaclav Havel:

   I am not sure one is capable of reflecting absurdity without having a strong sense of meaning. Absurdity makes sense only against a meaningful background. It is the deeper meaning that is shedding light on the absurdity. There must be a vanish point, a metaphysical horizon if you will where absurdity and meaning merge.”

2. James Cakmak:

   Not a sales background, not a financial background. A product background. That is essential to kind of setting the company up for the next stage of growth.

3. Chris Murphy:

   [The NRA] is absolutely pulling one over on their members, the NRA was for background checks a decade ago, and they changed their position, despite the fact that their members support background checks.

4. Amit Ray:

   Om is not just a sound or vibration. It is not just a symbol... If you think of Om only as a sound, a technique or a symbol of the Divine, you will miss it altogether. ….. Om is the mysterious cosmic energy that is the substratum of all the things and all the beings of the entire universe. It is an eternal song of the Divine. It is continuously resounding in silence on the background of everything that exists.

5. Ryan Zinke:

   This particular operation, it's not going to change the background. The background is: we need a plan in Syria. encyclopedia.