non-diegetic
adjective
theatre and film
specialized us
/ˌnɑːn.daɪ.əˈdʒet̬.ɪk/ uk
/ˌnɒn.daɪ.əˈdʒet.ɪk/Meaning of non-diegetic in English
(Definition of non-diegetic from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)
Examples of non-diegetic
non-diegetic
Racing games had little non-diegetic music (most just had engine sounds during gameplay), and flight simulators tended to be silent.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Visual abstraction breaks from the confines of the screen to challenge its own dimensional deficiency, spreading into illusory spatial gaps previously filled by non-diegetic music.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
That is to say, music is not so much source (diegetic), background (non-diegetic), nor just mutually implicated in the narrative meaning of a scene.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
If there is no physical 'off-stage', if the images create a 360-degree surround, does this negate the possibility of non-diegetic music?
From the Cambridge English Corpus
But is video installation art an entirety that includes the implied beyond, or is it a realization of non-diegetic potential?
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The music moves from diegetic to potentially non-diegetic spaces as he goes outside to catch a bus.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
A priori, the terms 'diegetic music' and 'non-diegetic music' situate film music as measured against the 'diegesis'.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Most film soundtracks are non-diegetic, meaning that they do not actually occur within the narrative frame.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The nature of video installation as a multimedia, multidimensional form allows both sound and image to expand beyond diegetic restrictions - the 'visual container' - in ways similar to non-diegetic music.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Put more simply, a non-diegetic insert is a scene that is outside the story world which is inserted into the story world.
The music is usually used as a background element and is non-diegetic, although occasionally the music comes from a diegetic source.
Most of the film is silent, except for two brief scenes with sound as well as the non-diegetic soundtrack.
Bishop is heard whistling the tune of this particular theme at the beginning and end of the film, making the electric piano theme a non-diegetic realization of a diegetic source.
This work, portraying a chance conversation between two strangers at a traffic intersection, used separate, non-diegetic sound feeds to represent the setting and the dialogue of the characters.
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.