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Synonyms

playbill

American  
[play-bil] / ˈpleɪˌbɪl /

noun

  1. a program or announcement of a play.


playbill British  
/ ˈpleɪˌbɪl /

noun

  1. a poster or bill advertising a play

  2. the programme of a play

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of playbill

First recorded in 1665–75; play + bill 1


Explanation

The little booklet you get when you go to the theater is called a playbill. A playbill usually includes a list of the cast and production crew. You can also call a playbill a program. At most theaters in the U.S., playbills are handed out to everyone in the audience as they enter. If you attend a Broadway play, you'll get a thick playbill with a lot of information about the play, the actors, and the venue—as well as a lot of advertising. A community theater or school production usually provides smaller, simpler playbills.

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Vocabulary lists containing playbill

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

There are plenty of clues in the playbill.

From New York Times ● Jan. 12, 2024

Raffier states in the playbill that the novel’s subject matter struck her in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, but she steers clear of too-obvious parallels.

From New York Times ● Mar. 26, 2023

With the group behind the Golden Globes in crisis, here’s a playbill of the key actors in the drama that threatens the existence of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2021

At the end of Part 1 of the program at Carnegie Hall, they performed composer Mykola Leontovych’s arrangement of a traditional Ukrainian song the playbill called “Shtshedryk.”

From Slate ● Dec. 19, 2019

Krause being Krause, she has another totem from Falsettos—a tattoo on her right ankle that is a replica of the cover art on the playbill from Broadway.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

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