foreground

American  

[fawr-ground] / ˈfɔrˌgraʊnd /

noun

foregrounds plural

1. 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).

2. a prominent or important position; forefront.

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verb (used with object)

1. to put in the foreground.

   The fact that the central character is Italian is not foregrounded.

foreground British  

/ ˈfɔːˌɡraʊnd /

noun

1. the part of a scene situated towards the front or nearest to the viewer

2. the area of space in a perspective picture, depicted as nearest the viewer

3. a conspicuous or active position

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verb

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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• foregrounds
  plural

Etymology

Origin of foreground

First recorded in 1685–95; fore- + ground ¹

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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

foreground foregrounds

A US military ship is seen in the foreground in the Arabian Sea in April.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

As children, cattle and lambs happily commune with bears, lions and wolves in the foreground, the background depicts William Penn making a treaty with Tamanend, chief of the Lenape Nation, and founding Pennsylvania.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026

Daisy’s husband Matt, for one, feels torn about the spoopiness that retailers foreground with their shelves of pastel pumpkins and rainbow-hued ghosts, and not just because of the aesthetics.

From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026

The foreground galaxy's gravity bent and amplified radio waves coming from Shadow Blaster, effectively creating a natural telescope.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 19, 2026

She was in the middle foreground, walking apparently self-detached from the crowd, her arms down at her sides.

From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger

Brown’s dreamlike visions of the climate and uniquely structured scenes—often with barely there foregrounds that emphasize the abstracted weather surrounding them—owe much to his mentor Ray Yoshida, as well as to Joseph Yoakum.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

To that end, before “Welcome to Derry” resurfaces the internet’s favorite scary clown, it foregrounds the ways that small-town charm can be an effective mask for the mundane evils we confront every day.

From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2025

A 35-year intimate survey of Catherine Opie’s never-before-shown photographs at Regen Projects in Hollywood foregrounds human connection.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2024

At the same time, many new diagnostic methods and early-intervention therapies have been developed in recent years, which foregrounds the need to identify more risk factors for the disease.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2023

The repeated “He,” has a sarcastic tone, and the hysteron proteron in the second sentence foregrounds this notion on which the argument turns: Is pride really a bad thing?

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

Related Words

• forefront