backdrop

/ˈbækˌdrɑp/
/ˈbækdrɒp/
IPA guide

Other forms: backdrops

A backdrop is the scenery that hangs behind the actors in a play. You might help to paint the backdrop for your school's production of "The Sound of Music."

The backdrop is an important part of a theater production, since it provides a setting for a play or sets a mood for a musical performance. If you're watching a local version of "Oliver!" the backdrop might be designed to look like a London street scene, for example. The noun backdrop comes from US theater slang, from a combination of back and drop around 1913.

Definitions of backdrop
  1. noun
    scenery hung at back of stage
    synonyms: backcloth, background
    see moresee less
    type of:
    scene, scenery
    the painted structures of a stage set that are intended to suggest a particular locale
Pronunciation
US
/ˈbækˌdrɑp/
UK
/ˈbækdrɒp/
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Word Family

Vocabulary lists containing backdrop

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Drama
Raina Telgemeier

In this popular graphic novel, Callie works on the stage crew of her school's spring musical while trying to navigate friendships and crushes.

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Awkward
Svetlana Chmakova

Middle school gets off to a rocky start for Peppi Torres after an awkward encounter with Jaime Thompson — and things only get worse when Peppi's art club begins feuding with the science club. Can Peppi save the day?

Theater - Introductory

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