foreground
Americannoun
-
the ground or parts situated, or represented as situated, in the front; the portion of a scene or picture nearest to the viewer (opposed to background).
-
a prominent or important position; forefront.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
the part of a scene situated towards the front or nearest to the viewer
-
the area of space in a perspective picture, depicted as nearest the viewer
-
a conspicuous or active position
verb
Etymology
Origin of foreground
Explanation
When you're watching a movie, you can describe what's happening up close to the camera as being in the foreground. The foreground is the opposite of the background, which is the part of a photograph, painting, or scene that's farthest away from you. Some photographers tend to focus sharply on the foreground while letting the rest of the picture go blurry. The noun foreground was first used specifically for talking about painting, and it came from fore, "before" or "in front," and ground, or "foundation."
Vocabulary lists containing foreground
Power Prefix: fore-
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30 GRE Words Beginning with "E" and "F"
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Close Reading: The Art and Craft of Rhetorical Analysis (Chapter 2)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Foreground: Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jared Leto and Lady Gaga portray a rich family tearing itself to shreds amid breathtaking luxury.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 24, 2022
Bernardi, G., McQuinn, M. & Greenhill, L. J. Foreground model and antenna calibration errors in the measurement of the sky-averaged λ21 cm signal at z ~ 20.
From Nature • Feb. 27, 2018
Foreground, from left, Roberto Scandiuzzi, Dolora Zajick and Clifton Forbis in the 1999 Metropolitan Opera production of “Khovanshchina.”
From New York Times • Feb. 24, 2012
Foreground stars in all the Webb images can be identified by their “diffraction spikes,” which are an artifact of the telescope’s design.
From Washington Post
Foreground makes so much difference; and so does—well, population.
From Bertram Cope's Year by Fuller, Henry Blake
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
