screenwriter
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
- screenwriting noun
Etymology
Origin of screenwriter
Explanation
Someone who writes movie scripts or screenplays is called a screenwriter. A novelist whose book is being made into a film might be hired to be the screenwriter. Every movie has a script, with lines for the actors to speak and directions for certain camera shots and scene changes. The person who writes the screenplay is the screenwriter. Some big-budget Hollywood films might have several screenwriters who collaborate. The word's been used since the 1920s, from the sense of screen that means "cinema world," or "surface on which a movie is projected."
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 actor, who was born and raised in Illinois, developed the story with “Nobody” screenwriter Derek Kolstad, best known for creating the “John Wick” franchise, and the two quickly bonded over a shared sensibility.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2026
Sydney Mitchel wanted to be a screenwriter and graduated from the dramatic writing department of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 12, 2026
Guest: Nadav Lapid, Israeli screenwriter and film director of Yes!
From Slate • Apr. 9, 2026
Project Hail Mary's production team was assembled by Gosling, including screenwriter Drew Goddard, who adapted another of Weir's novels, The Martian, for the big screen.
From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026
As a known member of the Communist Party, Froelick had trouble finding work as a screenwriter after 1950.
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.
