scenario

American  

[si-nair-ee-oh, -nahr-] / sɪˈnɛər iˌoʊ, -ˈnɑr- /

noun

• scenarios
  plural

1. an outline of the plot of a dramatic work, giving particulars as to the scenes, characters, situations, etc.

2. the outline or the manuscript of a motion picture or television program, giving the action in the order in which it takes place, the description of scenes and characters, etc.

3. an imagined or projected sequence of events, especially any of several detailed plans or possibilities.

   One scenario calls for doubling profits by increasing our advertising, the other by reducing costs.

   Synonyms:

   sketch, concept, plan, scheme

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scenario British  

/ sɪˈnɑːrɪˌəʊ, sɪˈnɑː-, ˈsiːnərɪst /

noun

1. a summary of the plot of a play, etc, including information about its characters, scenes, etc

2. a predicted sequence of events

   let's try another scenario, involving the demise of democracy

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• scenarist
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• scenarios
  plural

Etymology

Origin of scenario

First recorded in 1875–80; from Italian, from Latin scaenārium, scēnārium, noun use of scaenārius, scēnārius “belonging to the stage, theatrical,” from scaen(a), scēn(a) “background, stage, theater” ( see scene) + -ārius -ary

Explanation

A scenario is a specific possibility. To plan on playing with a bunch of bear cubs is a scenario — a dumb one, but still a scenario. When people are wondering what to do, they think of different scenarios. Moving to a big city is one scenario — moving to a tiny town is another. A football team has to plan for many scenarios, like the starting quarterback being injured. The government plans for hundreds of scenarios, such as natural disasters and attacks by terrorists. In literature, a scenario can mean a summing up of what's going on — what the situation is. A scenario is pretty similar to a situation, but a scenario hasn't happened yet and might not happen at all.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

scenario scenarios

Whether artificial intelligence takes off or not, I have trouble seeing either scenario happen in a way that doesn’t have severe stock-market implications.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

“From now on, we must prepare measures with even the worst-case scenario in mind,” Lee said, “on the premise that the Middle East situation may be prolonged.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

For a family of four buying a home worth $600,000, total mortgage payments under the good-case scenario would be lower by about $53,000, in comparison with the business-as-usual scenario.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026

"The government needs to start planning for a worst-case scenario where the rains don't return in sufficient amounts this winter, and next summer is similar to the last two," Prof Palmer says.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

“Worst-case scenario, you can always activate your cuffs and leave,” he said.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

The system also helped identify the main forces driving those changes and allowed the researchers to explore how groundwater risks could develop under future scenarios.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

Meanwhile, their top executives are increasingly talking about AI in ways that emphasize potential broad-based economic opportunity rather than job displacement or other scary scenarios.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

The United States hasn’t necessarily experienced a water cybersecurity disaster, but worst-case scenarios are more tangible than hypothetical.

From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026

In the June minutes — the first under Warsh — the Fed laid out the outlook in terms of two scenarios.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026

All I can think about now is my parents, and all of the worst-case scenarios that probably didn’t happen but still haunt me all the same.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Related Words

• plot
• scheme