foreground

[ fawr-ground, fohr- ]

/ ˈfɔrˌgraʊnd, ˈfoʊr- /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR foreground ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the ground or parts situated, or represented as situated, in the front; the portion of a scene nearest to the viewer (opposed to background).

a prominent or important position; forefront.

Nearby words

Origin of foreground

First recorded in 1685–95; fore- + ground¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for foreground

Dan worked hard and made a good picture: mountains, timber, blue sky…and in the foreground a blond girl and a unicorn.
The Ballad of Johnny France|Richard Ben Cramer|January 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Ladder 118 looks small on the Brooklyn Bridge; in the foreground both towers billow soot.
With the Fireman of Brooklyn’s Company 224 as They Observe the Fallen|Maurice Emerson Decaul|September 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
So of course, we start swimming toward it because I wanted the underwater camera guy to shoot me in the foreground of this shark.
Off the Hook: Eric Young’s Craziest Shark Catches (Video)|Anna Klassen|August 5, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It never was until I started performing live myself that I had to be in the foreground.
Burt Bacharach: How I Write|Noah Charney|May 15, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Foreground figures in “Street” are wildly out of focus, which is normally a feature that we only see in still photographs.
New York on Quaaludes|Blake Gopnik|April 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST
All that eventful day our story began with had leaped into the foreground of his mind.
Somehow Good|William de Morgan
Was it not the sensuous side of her nature that had been touched, while the rest had been posing in the foreground?
The Daughters of Danaus|Mona Caird
In the foreground a wooden shanty, a broom by the door with a ramshorn hanging from its handle.
The Road to Damascus|August Strindberg
But there was a wicked gleam in the eye of the footsore young man in the foreground.
Last of the Great Scouts|Helen Cody Wetmore
The thickness of outline on the light side of this vase unfinishes the foreground.
Dickens and His Illustrators|Frederic G. Kitton

British Dictionary definitions for foreground

foreground

/ (ˈfɔːˌɡraʊnd) /

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

(tr) to emphasize (an issue, idea, or word)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for foreground

foreground

1690s, in the landscape sense, from fore- + ground (n.). First used in English by Dryden ("Art of Painting"); cf. Dutch voorgrond.

foreground

noun

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of foreground

Examples from the Web for foreground

foreground

noun

verb

foreground