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Glite Dictionary
middle distance

middle distance

2 3.7
The part of a picture or view between things near you and things far away
  • noun
  • /ˈmɪdəl ˈdɪstəns/
translation icon : distancia media
  • Staring into the middle distance, Gabriela says, "It's not worth it."

They're always walking through the woods or just staring off into the middle distance.

Examples

  • Crickets chirped all around me, some close and then others in the middle distance and even farther away.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • The artist painted the landscape, capturing the beautiful details in the foreground and the soft hues of the middle distance.

  • The only thing that matters is the rise and fall of the white arm in the middle distance.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • The man stares at a kind of middle distance between himself and me.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • The Rangers stare into the middle distance of despair.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Rather than crane his neck to look up at the alien, he gazed off into the middle distance.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • With unseeing eyes, she stared straight ahead into the middle distance.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • The gray and white bulk of the Matterhorn loomed in the middle distance.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Wills, still holding the receiver, stares dreamily into the middle distance.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Bill sat in his favorite armchair, clad in a crewneck sweater and twill trousers, gazing pensively into the middle distance.

    Fiction book (2000)

Antonyms

background
268 2.1

The area behind the main subject in a picture, on a stage, or on a screen

foreground
25 3.3

The part of a scene or picture nearest to you

How Far

background
268 2.1
middle distance
2 3.7
foreground
25 3.3

Surface Forms

middle distance singular
middle distances plural

Morphology

middle + distance

The meaning 'the part of a scene or landscape between the foreground and background' is directly and compositionally derived from 'middle' (intermediate/central) plus 'distance' (the spatial interval), so a learner who knows both words can infer the phrase. This spatial, compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows standard noun + modifier semantics, making it readily understandable at B1 level.

Etymology

The phrase middle distance comes from painting and landscape art: it names the area in the middle between the 'foreground' and the 'background'. So it now means 'the part of a scene between the foreground and the background'.