set against
Britishverb
-
to balance or compare
to set a person's faults against his virtues
-
to cause to be hostile or unfriendly to
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.
It would extend their poor run to only two wins in 10 matches, set against a backdrop of off-field controversy.
From BBC • Jun. 27, 2026
The 23-year-old postponed her pre-tournament media shortly after quitting a practice set against Russian Anna Kalinskaya with 10 minutes remaining.
From BBC • Jun. 27, 2026
The film is a story of urban striving set against the backdrop of an emerging crop of skyscrapers, and to stand out from the crowds within them is the protagonist’s ardent ambition.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 24, 2026
The revelation, delivered in a direct-to-camera 4½-minute video set against a backdrop of U.S. and California flags, became a top headline across the country.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2026
None of this would have been observable to his eye were it not for the lapis lazuli powder that allowed him to see flashes of the blue fox set against the white snow.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
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.
