scene

American  

[seen] / sin /

noun

• scenes
  plural

1. the place where some action or event occurs.

   He returned to the scene of the accident.

   Synonyms:

   focus, center, location, stage, arena

2. any view or picture.

   The scene that lay before me, with its snow and colorful leaves, was beautiful.

3. an incident or situation in real life.

   She witnessed the scene at the restaurant as it happened.

   Synonyms:

   episode

4. an embarrassing outbreak or display of anger, strong feeling, or bad manners.

   Please don't make a scene in such a public place.

   Synonyms:

   show, spectacle, demonstration

5. a division of a play or of an act of a play, usually representing a passage of time in a single setting, featuring a specific character or group of characters.

   Scene Four takes place in a city park at dawn.

6. a unit of action or a segment of a story in a play, motion picture, or television show.

   The DVD contains many short scenes showing classic plane models at U.S. and European airports.

7. the place in which the action of a play or part of a play is supposed to occur.

8. scenery.

9. Literature.

   1. an episode, situation, or the like, as in a narrative.

   2. the setting or locale of a story.

10. the stage, especially of an ancient Greek or Roman theater.

11. an area or sphere of activity, current interest, etc..

    the rock music scene;

    the fashion scene.

---

idioms

1. make the scene, 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.

2. behind the scenes. see behind the scenes.

scene British  

/ siːn /

noun

1. the place where an action or event, real or imaginary, occurs

2. the setting for the action of a play, novel, etc

3. an incident or situation, real or imaginary, esp as described or represented

4. 1. a subdivision of an act of a play, in which the time is continuous and the setting fixed

   2. a single event, esp a significant one, in a play

5. films a shot or series of shots that constitutes a unit of the action

6. the backcloths, stage setting, etc, for a play or film set; scenery

7. the prospect of a place, landscape, etc

8. a display of emotion, esp an embarrassing one to the onlookers

9. informal the environment for a specific activity

   the fashion scene

10. informal interest or chosen occupation

    classical music is not my scene

11. rare the stage, esp of a theatre in ancient Greece or Rome

12. out of public view; privately

---

scene More Idioms  

1. see behind the scenes; make a scene; make the scene; on the scene; set the scene for.

---

Synonym Usage

See view.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• interscene
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• scenes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of scene

First recorded in 1530–40; from Latin scēna “background” (of the stage), from Greek skēnḗ “booth” (where actors dressed)

Explanation

A scene is where something happens or happened. How did you know that the thief would return to the scene of the crime? Scene can also describe part of a movie or a play. Did the last scene make you laugh, cry, or fall asleep? There are lots of common phrases that use the word scene. If you “make a scene,” you draw attention to yourself with some kind of outburst. If something happens “behind the scenes,” the public doesn't know about it.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scene scenes

In the scene, set just before the events of 2002’s “Resident Evil,” executives at the diabolical Umbrella Corporation gather to discuss the world’s impending end.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

“We just became a lot faster, so each individual scene goes so far.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026

Anderson said Minogue had been "adamant" that the track was used for the scene, and he later declared that Suddenly was the best song he had ever written.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

Brown said there was "a whole plethora of planning" ongoing at the scene, with various different options on the table, including a possible controlled explosion.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

That night, as I lay in the dark, I kept replaying the scene where Courtney would look at the poster and frown.

From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott

Doing so has involved a lot of work behind the scenes, analysing what happened in 2025, understanding what had gone well, what had not, and why, and what he could do to improve.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

They published their findings in the peer-reviewed Journal of Banking and Finance, offering an important look behind the scenes at our modern so-called attention economy, which could better be described as the “sucker economy.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026

Behind the scenes, the FBI saw in emails and company records, Kao orchestrated over $40,000 in donations from extended family in advance of the event.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

Fortunately, if no less terribly, there is more to the story, and many of the most compelling scenes have little or nothing to do with Michael.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026

The fissure split and grew, like those scenes in disaster movies when an earthquake cracks the streets apart and chases the hero.

From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia

Related Words

• arena
• display
• landscape
• location
• picture
• place
• scenery
• set
• setting
• show
• sight
• site
• spectacle
• spot
• stage
• theater
• view