behind the scenes

See also: behind-the-scenes

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

behind the scenes

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• behind-the-scenes (adjective)
• BTS (abbreviation)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪˈhaɪnd ðə siːnz/, /bəˈhaɪnd ðə siːnz/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Prepositional phrase

behind the scenes

1. (idiomatic, theater, film) behind the scenery and stage area; backstage; among the actors; during the production or rehearsal

   Many videos come with features that show what went on behind the scenes to make the movie and special effects.

   • 1890, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 2, page 134:

     The men who stood behind the scenes and worked the religious puppet-show by hidden wires to the awe and astonishment of the gaping vulgar.

2. (idiomatic, figurative) In secret; out of public view.

   The government has been negotiating behind the scenes with the separatists for months.

   • 2013, Tracy Daugherty, The Boy Orator: A Novel, →ISBN:

     He was more comfortable behind the scenes, he admitted, writing articles, drafting speeches for others. “I don't really have what it takes to be a hand-shaker or a baby-kisser,” he said.

   • 2025 May 21, Ezra Klein, quoting Jake Tapper, “How Groupthink Protected Biden and Re-elected Trump”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     They told me it was because they knew the Hur report was about to drop. And they knew it would have all this stuff about classified information and about him seeming superold and addled behind the scenes.

Translations

theatre/film

German: hinter den Kulissen (de) Korean: 비하인드 (bihaindeu)

in secret; out of public view

Arabic: مِن وَرَاءَ السِّتارِ (min warāʔa s-sitāri), وَرَاءَ الكَوالِيسِ (warāʔa l-kawālīsi) Belarusian: за кулі́самі (za kulísami) (also of theatre), за ка́драм (za kádram) (also of movies) Bulgarian: зад кули́сите (zad kulísite) Catalan: entre bastidors Chinese: Mandarin: 幕後 / 幕后 (zh) (mùhòu) Czech: v zákulisí (cs) Danish: bag kulisserne Dutch: achter de schermen (nl), achter de coulissen Estonian: kulisside taga, tagaplaanil Faroese: í loynd, í loyndum, í duldum, í duld Finnish: kulissien takana, kulisseissa French: en coulisse (fr), de l'autre côté du décor, dans les coulisses (fr) Georgian: კულისებს მიღმა (ḳulisebs miɣma) German: hinter den Kulissen (de) Hebrew: מְאֲחוֹרֵי הַפַּרְגּוֹד (me'akhoréi ha-pargód), מְאֲחוֹרֵי הַקְּלָעִים (me'akhoréi ha-kla'ím) Hungarian: a kulisszák mögött (hu), a színfalak mögött Italian: (also of theatre and movies) dietro le quinte Japanese: 舞台裏 (ja) (ぶたいうら, butaiura) Korean: 막후(幕後) (makhu) Macedonian: зад кулоа́рите (zad kuloárite) Norwegian: Bokmål: bak kulissene Polish: za kulisami Portuguese: nos bastidores (pt), por detrás dos bastidores (pt), por baixo dos panos Russian: за кули́сами (za kulísami) (also of theatre), за ка́дром (ru) (za kádrom) (also of movies), в кулуа́рах (v kuluárax) (on the sidelines) Sanskrit: नेपथ्ये (nepathye) Slovak: v zákulisí Spanish: detrás del telón, entre bastidores, tras bambalinas Swedish: bakom kulisserna (sv) Telugu: తెరవెనుక (teravenuka) Turkish: kafes ardından, kulis arkasında Ukrainian: за кулі́сами (za kulísamy) (also of theatre), за лашту́нками (za laštúnkamy), за ка́дром (za kádrom) (also of movies) Yiddish: הינטער די קוליסן (hinter di kulisn)

Adjective

behind the scenes (not comparable)

1. Being or working out in secret or out of public view.
2. Divulging or reporting hidden workings.