scrim
7 synonyms and 0 antonyms for scrim, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — A practice match played by a team against another team outside official competition, especially in esports.
Synonyms
Everyday swaps
Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Synonyms by Meaning
1. noun informal, gaming
A practice match played by a team against another team outside official competition, especially in esports.
“We have scrims against a Korean roster every night this week.”
2. noun
A loosely woven cotton or linen cloth used for curtains, lining and upholstery, and in theatre and film as a backdrop that looks solid when lit from the front and transparent when lit from behind.
“A painted scrim dissolved into the forest set as the lights came up behind it.”
How to use scrim
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
The gaming sense is informal and dominant online; the fabric sense is standard technical vocabulary in theatre, film and textiles.
Etymology
Attested since the end of the 18th century. Origin unknown. In one of the earliest mentions, "The Statistical Account of Scotland", 1793, by John Sinclair, page 593, we read in a paragraph devoted to weavers: "Besides these, they are now much employed in working a thin kind of coarse linen called Silesias, vulgarly Scr...
Full origin of scrim →Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a scrim and a scrimmage?
Scrim is the clipped esports form and means a full practice match against another team. Scrimmage is the older American sports word for a practice session, often played within one squad, and in rugby the related word is scrum.
What are scrims in gaming?
They are arranged practice matches between competitive teams, played outside ranked ladders so squads can test strategies against real opposition. Results do not count for anything but coaches treat them as data.
What does a scrim do in theatre?
Lit from the front it reads as an opaque painted wall, and lit from behind it turns transparent, revealing whatever is upstage. That trick is used for reveals, ghosts and scene changes without a blackout.