dramatist

American  

[dram-uh-tist, drah-muh-] / ˈdræm ə tɪst, ˈdrɑ mə- /

noun

1. a writer of dramas or dramatic poetry; playwright.

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dramatist British  

/ ˈdræmətɪst /

noun

1. a writer of plays; playwright

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Other Word Forms

• superdramatist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of dramatist

1670–80; < Greek drāmat- ( see dramatic) + -ist

Explanation

A dramatist, or playwright, is a person who writes plays. Tennessee Williams, who wrote "The Glass Menagerie," is an example of a famous American dramatist. Using the noun dramatist is actually a pretty dramatic way to refer to a playwright. Its root is the word drama, which comes from a Greek word meaning "to do." So a dramatist is a writer whose works are full of action: stage directions, movement, and lines meant to be spoken by stage actors. If you scramble the letters of the word dramatist, you end up with "amidst art."

Example Sentences

The Master American Dramatist award went to Tina Howe, whose best-known works include “Coastal Disturbances” and “Pride’s Crossing.”

From New York Times • May 13, 2015

Dramatist Yockey has worked tongue-in-cheek material into his thrills-and-chills anthology.

From Washington Post • Apr. 23, 2015

I picked up the book Mozart the Dramatist, by Brigid Brophy.

From Slate • Apr. 10, 2012

Dramatist and music critic George Bernard Shaw was among those who, a century later, viewed Gluck as a direct precursor to another German opera innovator, composer Richard Wagner.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 15, 2012

I own I were guilty of the highest Vanity, should I presume to put my Composures in Parallel with those of that Celebrated Dramatist.

From The Busie Body by Byrd, Jess