scene
- the place where some action or event occurs: He returned to the scene of the murder.
- any view or picture.
- an incident or situation in real life.
- an embarrassing outbreak or display of anger, strong feeling, or bad manners: Please don't make a scene in such a public place.
- a division of a play or of an act of a play, usually representing what passes between certain of the actors in one place.
- a unit of action or a segment of a story in a play, motion picture, or television show.
- the place in which the action of a play or part of a play is supposed to occur.
- scenery(def 2).
- Literature.
- an episode, situation, or the like, as in a narrative.
- the setting or locale of a story.
- the stage, especially of an ancient Greek or Roman theater.
- an area or sphere of activity, current interest, etc.: the rock music scene; the fashion scene.
- behind the scenes, in secret or in private.
- make the scene, Slang. to appear in a particular place or engage in a particular activity: Let's make the scene downtown tonight. She was never one to make the drug scene.
Origin of scene
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comRelated Words
scenery, picture, set, theater, show, spot, site, arena, setting, place, location, sight, spectacle, view, display, landscape, stage, episode, act, incidentExamples from the Web for scene
Contemporary Examples
Hovering above the scene, commandos in helicopters were poised with automatic rifles.
The scene was heavily cordoned off to traffic and anyone not with the police, press, or residents.
The following page details a tribute gag the Simpsons team inserted into the background of a scene.
Here’s the Lost Judd Apatow ‘Simpsons’ Episode, Penned by Judd ApatowAsawin Suebsaeng
January 6, 2015
“The play contains one five minute scene about James Hewitt,” Conway says.
Suddenly, without warning, the whole feeling of the scene changes.
Historical Examples
She returned at last to her little home, to find it a scene of desolation.
Harriet, The Moses of Her PeopleSarah H. Bradford
By this time several persons had hurried to the scene of the encounter.
Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton CampusJessie Graham Flower
There is a grandeur in the ruin to be enjoyed, as well as a scene of beauty from its towers.
The Grand Old ManRichard B. Cook
A commercial minister had appeared on the scene, and the shade of Hoskisson had revived.
The Grand Old ManRichard B. Cook
"I wonder who will be first on the scene," speculated Grace.
Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton CampusJessie Graham Flower
scene
- the place where an action or event, real or imaginary, occurs
- the setting for the action of a play, novel, etc
- an incident or situation, real or imaginary, esp as described or represented
- a subdivision of an act of a play, in which the time is continuous and the setting fixed
- a single event, esp a significant one, in a play
- films a shot or series of shots that constitutes a unit of the action
- the backcloths, stage setting, etc, for a play or film set; scenery
- the prospect of a place, landscape, etc
- a display of emotion, esp an embarrassing one to the onlookers
- informal the environment for a specific activitythe fashion scene
- informal interest or chosen occupationclassical music is not my scene
- rare the stage, esp of a theatre in ancient Greece or Rome
- behind the scenes out of public view; privately
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for scene
n.
1530s, "subdivision of an act of a play," also "stage-setting," from Middle French scène (14c.), from Latin scaena, scena "scene, stage of a theater," from Greek skene "wooden stage for actors," also "that which is represented on stage," originally "tent or booth," related to skia "shadow, shade," via notion of "something that gives shade," from PIE root *skai- "to shine, flicker, glimmer" (see shine (v.)).
Meaning "material apparatus of a theatrical stage" is from 1540s. Meaning "place in which the action of a literary work occurs" is attested from 1590s; general (non-literary) sense of "place where anything is done or takes place" is recorded from 1590s. Hence U.S. slang sense of "setting or milieu for a specific group or activity," attested from 1951 in Beat jargon. Meaning "stormy encounter between two or more persons" is attested from 1761. Behind the scenes "having knowledge of affairs not apparent to the public" (1660s) is an image from the theater, "amid actors and stage machinery" (out of sight of the audience). Scene of the crime (1923) first attested in Agatha Christie.
Idioms and Phrases with scene
scene
see behind the scenes; make a scene; make the scene; on the scene; set the scene for.