playwright

American  

[play-rahyt] / ˈpleɪˌraɪt /

noun

• playwrights
  plural

1. a writer of plays; dramatist.

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playwright British  

/ ˈpleɪˌraɪt /

noun

1. a person who writes plays

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• playwrights
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of playwright

First recorded in 1680–90; play + wright

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Explanation

A playwright is someone who writes plays. Playwrights are also known as dramatists. Just as a poet writes poems, a playwright writes plays. If the spelling of playwright looks odd, that's because wright is a word for a craftsperson or someone who builds things (like a shipwright builds ships). Given the juggling of characters, scenes, and plots in a play, you can see how writing a play is like building something. The most famous playwright ever in English is William Shakespeare.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

playwright playwrights

So he could follow the instincts he first honed as a young playwright, which told him that a five-word addition to his script could set up a funny moment in a story that gets dark.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

He has long been the rare American playwright unafraid to follow in the path of Arthur Miller, the foremost dramatic moralist the country has produced.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026

When the playwright Matt Schatz wrote Bobby, he didn’t write him as a chatbot; he wrote him as a human character.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Cole was married twice – first to playwright and theatrical fight director Henry Marshall, whom she divorced in 1988.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

He doesn’t really appreciate the explicit direction, even from the playwright, but the notation does tell him something.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

I’m traditionally more resistant to playwrights fiddling around with Shakespeare than I am with them updating Greek tragedy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

Soon after, wannabe authoritarians attack the comedians, essayists, playwrights and poets.

From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026

ATG Entertainment said renaming the venue the Tom Stoppard Theatre would be a "lasting tribute... to one of the most influential playwrights in British theatre".

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

We also spotlight a new generation of playwrights reimagining Americanness with a sense of hope that America’s best years are still ahead of us.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

Montgomery has a beautiful park that houses the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, which brings nationally acclaimed playwrights and actors to Alabama to perform Shakespeare and modern theatrical productions.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

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