set dressing
The process of furnishing and decorating a film, TV, or theatre set with all the items…The process of furnishing and decorating a film, TV, or theatre set with all the items that aren't held or used by actors to create a realistic, lived-in environment, and convey character, time period, mood, and story details; distinct from props (items used by actors).
Meaning
2 sensesThe process of furnishing and decorating a film, TV, or theatre set with all the items that aren't held or used by actors to create a realistic, lived-in environment, and convey character, time period, mood, and story details; distinct from props (items used by actors).
(broadly, figuratively)Anything that sits in the background to establish mood and visual context.
Origin
From set + dressing.From set + dressing.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: set dressings| Singular | set dressing |
|---|---|
| Plural | set dressings |
regular
Word family
1 related wordsSee also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.