screenplay
Americannoun
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a motion-picture or television scenario.
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Older Use. a motion picture.
noun
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.
“You, Me & Tuscany” has a screenplay by Ryan Engle, whose previous credits include two Liam Neeson thrillers and a Dwayne Johnson killer-gorilla movie, which would make him a very surprising heir to Nora Ephron.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
Hoover co-wrote the screenplay alongside Lauren Levine, which is why the film bears the same strangely hypnotic, if confusing, pull as her novels.
From Salon • Mar. 19, 2026
In 1969, he co-produced and wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of the satirical musical, Oh!
From BBC • Mar. 17, 2026
“You could come here to write a screenplay or read a book. Everyone who has been interested in the home is in the creative space—either a writer, artist, director, or musician.”
From MarketWatch • Mar. 17, 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
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.
