screenplay
Americannoun
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screenplays
plural
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a motion-picture or television scenario.
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Older Use. a motion picture.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of screenplay
Explanation
Before a movie can be filmed, a writer has to come up with a screenplay, a written script that describes all the action and every line the actors will speak. How entertaining, thrilling, realistic, or fantastic a movie is depends on many variables, one of the most important being the screenplay. A truly great screenplay includes brilliant dialogue that develops the characters and moves the action forward. TV shows and elaborate video games also require screenplays. Some writers adapt books or older movies into new screenplays, while others come up with entirely original stories for their screenplays.
Vocabulary lists containing screenplay
Academy Awards, List 3
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myPerspectives 7.3
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Introduction to Drama
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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:
"Tender Loving Care" also jointly won the best screenplay prize at the Spanish festival, while its actress Kate O'Flynn shared the Silver Shell for best performance.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
These cultural comparisons would and should be interesting, if not for screenwriter Ajon Singh’s frustratingly shallow screenplay and Oppenheim’s stylish yet one-note direction.
From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026
In 1993, she wrote the screenplay for the comedy-drama film Bhaji On The Beach, and two years later she starred in the Channel 4 romantic comedy film, Beautiful Thing.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
Alternating with these vignettes are lengthy excerpts from M’s bohemian heyday of 2023—three journals and a short screenplay.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
It’s super cool because Arthur Miller adapted his own play into the screenplay for this movie.
From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon
He hangs out with the suffragist leader Emmeline Pankhurst; hobnobs with King Edward VII; writes screenplays for Hollywood.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
Films like “They Will Kill You” and those in the “Ready or Not” franchise incorporate visual elements of the divine and satanic to distract from their mediocre screenplays and recycled ideas.
From Salon ● May 19, 2026
Back in Israel, I studied film at Tel Aviv University, but I struggled writing screenplays.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026
"In the Writing categories, the rules codify that screenplays must be human-authored to be eligible."
From Barron's ● May 1, 2026
For the next five decades, Houseman edited and wrote screenplays, earning admiration for his work.
From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
