How to Use background music in a Sentence

background music

noun
  • Of course, background music wouldn’t be possible to pipe in while cameras were rolling, but that pin-drop-quiet dining room felt so eerie and sterile.
    Rachel Bernhard, Journal Sentinel, 9 May 2024
  • The singing, for now, is background music against the high din of the bar.
    Esther Mobley, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 Mar. 2018
  • The background music may change, but the song remains the same.
    Stephen Dalton, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Nov. 2019
  • In the studio, the background music all but drowned out his voice.
    James Karst, NOLA.com, 26 Oct. 2017
  • Throughout each of the Fallout games, the background music makes so much of the story and sets the mood.
    Esther Mollica, Wired, 12 Jan. 2021
  • Does the person who mixed the background music that informed A.I. have a claim?
    Rachyl Jones, Fortune, 22 Aug. 2023
  • As for the background music, when put in reverse, there are some lyrics that can be made out.
    Carolyn Twersky, Seventeen, 5 Aug. 2021
  • Benson was built in the 1870s as railways reached this part of the prairies, and trains remain the town’s background music.
    Tim Sullivan, chicagotribune.com, 27 Jan. 2022
  • The fact that the peppy background music will stick in your head all day is nothing new for a Mario game, of course.
    Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, 18 Oct. 2023
  • Once the season ends, that background music will become the main act.
    Peter Abraham, BostonGlobe.com, 8 Sep. 2019
  • From there, as your background music is still playing, press the white button and drag your finger to the right.
    Yoni Heisler, BGR, 7 Oct. 2021
  • That provision has been the background music to Trump's life.
    Russ Buettner, Star Tribune, 27 Sep. 2020
  • That provision has been the background music to Mr. Trump’s life.
    Russ Buettner, Susanne Craig and Mike McIntire, New York Times, 27 Sep. 2020
  • The movie flicks at a variety of pieces from Bernstein's opus, in both background music and set pieces.
    Scott Hocker, theweek, 5 Jan. 2024
  • There's no background music, except the birds, the wind, the weather—and maybe my Chihuahuas yapping.
    Court Stroud, Forbes, 16 Sep. 2021
  • The background music is a mix of Sinatra, Elvis and Chubby Checker.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 May 2021
  • Piedmont blues, the chief background music, contributes to a sense of place.
    Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 7 Oct. 2022
  • Now, with your background music still playing, simply press down on the white button and drag your finger to the right.
    Yoni Heisler, BGR, 18 Aug. 2021
  • The Masters belongs in April, when the azaleas and dogwoods are in bloom and the tinkling of the piano serves as the perfect background music.
    Paul Sullivan, chicagotribune.com, 31 Dec. 2021
  • But the depression was so in my face that the anxiety was just background music.
    Bethany Heitman, Health.com, 7 Apr. 2020
  • The rhythm of corruption and scandal has become a sort of background music at the Ohio statehouse.
    Sarah Stankorb, The New Republic, 29 June 2023
  • The show promptly changed the segment's background music to a more seductive song.
    Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 9 Aug. 2023
  • The couple is hopeful about their new place, but the ominous background music begs to differ.
    Charles Trepany, USA TODAY, 26 Aug. 2021
  • Back in the late 1990s, researchers took to a British supermarket and tinkered with the store’s background music.
    Jeff Stibel, USA TODAY, 27 Mar. 2018
  • Chiles started clapping to the background music, extending her arms over her head on the beat.
    Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2023
  • Sure, part of the magic of the meal comes from its traditional setting on a beach, where your feet are in the sand and crashing waves are the background music.
    Ellie Krieger, Washington Post, 25 Aug. 2022
  • There will be no live music — only background music — and no TVs.
    Michael Klein, Philly.com, 24 Jan. 2018
  • There is, however, a way to record video and keep the existing background music alive.
    Yoni Heisler, BGR, 28 May 2021
  • Just outside the cottage are a goat and flowers dancing along to the upbeat background music.
    Los Angeles Times, 18 Feb. 2022
  • Jaws dropped in awe, fingers pointed to the sky and a chorus of screams became steady background music as day turned into night.
    Lina Ruiz, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Apr. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'background music.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: