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:
That time came when he was shopping around his screenplay about an underdog boxer, Rocky Balboa, who through sheer, immiserating grit enters the ring against the champion fighter Apollo Creed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
Kazan’s granddaughter Zoe Kazan has written the screenplay and worked with Jeb Stuart as co-showrunners for a new “East of Eden” adaptation, a seven-episode miniseries debuting Thursday on Netflix.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
"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
Meanwhile, William Faulkner rewrote the Russian sequence of the film and typed up the full screenplay.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
Van Zandt has no signs of slowing down anytime soon, as Page Six recently reported that he is working on screenplays “set in the Garden State.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
Because the streamer’s standards are low, the screenplays Netflix produces are mediocre.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026
Although Dorothy Parker tried her hand at plays and had a successful writing career in Hollywood—her screenplays included 1937’s “A Star is Born”—she excelled in briefer forms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
The original story by Travis Braun was ranked No. 1 on the 2024 Black List of the best unproduced screenplays.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026
She and Koch collaborated on several screenplays, and she was finally given screen credit for her work in 1941.
From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
