backlight
/ˈbæk.laɪt/
backlight noun: light shining from a source behind the object of interest or attention.
Noun
backlight (plural backlights)
- Light shining from a source behind the object of interest or attention.
- The backlight from the sunset cast the pier and the crowd in silhouette.
- Egg candling uses backlight to look for chick embryos.
- A spotlight that illuminates a photographic subject from behind.
- Light that is behind a photographic subject.
- If I do use backlight, it's not to separate the subject from the background; I use it to set a psychological mood, or to create a look.2006, Michael Grecco, Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait, Amphoto Books, →ISBN, page 73
- A light attached to an LCD display.
- The rear window of a motor car.
Verb
backlight (third-person singular simple present backlights, present participle backlighting, simple past and past participle backlighted or backlit)
- To illuminate something from behind.
- It offers few subtleties, but those can be effective, as when the chorus is backlighted in the rear of the auditorium to produce an ominous play of shadows onstage.2007 June 2, James R. Oestreich, “Strange, Faraway Fantasies of Hell and Paradise”, in New York Times
- Backlit by the setting sun, an Avanti West Coast Class 390 Pendolino crosses the River Ribble at Preston on December 30 2022.2023 March 22, “Modern Images”, in RAIL, page 61, photo caption
Examples of backlight in a sentence
- The Queen of the Night is backlighted by a skyful of starry dots.
- Quick buffo comedy requires the clarity of the straight play, while sustained romantic anguish flourishes in atmospheric backlights and crosslight.
- Front- and backlights are egg-crated Chimera Lightbanks.
Forms of backlight
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | backlights |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | backlights |
| present participle | backlighting |
| past participle | backlighted |
| past | backlighted |
| past participle | backlit |
| past | backlit |
Origin of backlight
From back + light.
Questions about backlight
- What does backlight mean?
- Backlight means light shining from a source behind the object of interest or attention.
- What part of speech is backlight?
- Backlight can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce backlight?
- Backlight is pronounced /ˈbæk.laɪt/.
- What is the plural of backlight?
- The plural of backlight is backlights.
Words near backlight in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: backlight (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-backlight.wav.
Cite this entry: “backlight.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/backlight. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.