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playlet

American  
[pley-lit] / ˈpleɪ lɪt /

noun

  1. a short play.


playlet British  
/ ˈpleɪlɪt /

noun

  1. a short 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 playlet

First recorded in 1880–85; play + -let

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.

The novelty of a concrete pier was celebrated in a September 1909 gala opening, with a playlet starring Queen Santa Monica and Rex Neptune.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2024

In her review of the 1978 production, Times theater critic Sylvie Drake identifies “Fam and Yam” as the weak link in “Albee Directs Albee,” calling the playlet “the slenderest of self-jibes” and a “threadbare spoof.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 7, 2022

Last month, in a community garden in Bushwick, a troupe guided by Rachel Chavkin’s organization, the Team, produced Ellpetha Tsivicos and Camilo Quiroz-Vazquez’s “Quince,” an immersive playlet with music about a quinceañera celebration.

From Washington Post • Sep. 7, 2020

This playlet — which features Piter Marek and Betsy Aidem in gargoylish supporting roles — is terminally of its era, with its evocation of the dark desires churning beneath a chipper Betty Crocker life.

From New York Times • Oct. 9, 2018

Precisely as the character sketch is not a playlet, the merely narrative sketch is not a true playlet.

From Writing for Vaudeville by Page, Brett