Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to enter the picture

to enter the picture

5 5.3
To become part of a situation and start to change what happens
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : entrar en la situación
  • When the new evidence was revealed, it really entered the picture and changed everything.

Cool all right so when does the camera enter the picture?

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • I was a Zenyatta maniac way before Rachel ever entered the picture, and I remain the same to this day.

    Blog text (18)

  • Now a potential third strike has entered the picture—the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001.

    Academic text (2005)

  • And this is where the Common Core standards enter the picture.

    Blog text (2)

  • But where did the singing enter the picture with your your teaching?

  • Things got a lot more serious when the "big" money entered the picture!

    Blog text (25)

  • When did your grandparents enter the picture in terms of your close relationship with them?

  • But as soon as my daughter entered the picture, my world turned upside down.

    Blog text (28)

  • Whenever children enter the picture for me, I'm going to wait.

    Blog text (19)

  • Then Walt Disney entered the picture.

    Academic text (2005)

  • And Gwen then entered the picture.

    Uprooted: The Journey of Jazz Dance (2020)

Synonyms

to step in
vsto enter the picture
240 3.2

To get involved to help or take someone's place

means becoming relevant without necessarily offering help or substitution
to enter
vsto enter the picture
136 1.3

To have an effect on a decision or situation as a factor

is about becoming newly relevant or involved rather than simple inclusion
to enter the scene
vsto enter the picture
1 3.8

To come into a situation and begin to take part or change it

focuses on becoming newly relevant rather than physical arrival
to enter the equation
vsto enter the picture
1 6.5

To become an important thing to think about in a situation

is broader, meaning become newly involved or relevant to events

Antonyms

to withdraw
466 2.8

To stop taking part in a place or activity

to fall off someone's radar
7.4

To stop being noticed or thought about by someone

How Relevant

to involve
∞ 1.8
to enter the picture
  • Informal
5 5.3

Surface Forms

enter the picture infinitive
entered the picture past
entered the picture past participle
entering the picture present participle
enters the picture third person singular

Morphology

enter + the + picture

The constituents 'enter' (to go into/join) and 'picture' (here used metaphorically for a situation or scene) are individually transparent, so a learner can often infer the sense 'become involved or relevant'. However, the use of 'picture' in this non-literal way requires a figurative mapping and is somewhat idiomatic, so the exact meaning may not be fully predictable to a B1 learner without prior exposure.

Etymology

Enter the picture comes from the simple image of someone stepping into a scene: enter means to come in and the picture is the scene. So when a person or problem 'enters the picture' it 'becomes involved' or becomes important to what is happening.