on-screen

adverb or adjective

ˈȯn-ˈskrēn 

ˈän-

variants or onscreen

1

: in a movie or a television program

But the makers of the 1958 movie understood that this most subtle of writers was telling a tale about the froth of life, and they celebrated it on-screen with gusto.

—Gerald Asher

The sixth-grader reportedly earned $1 million for starring in the upcoming My Girl, which pairs him with Anna Chlumsky for his first onscreen kiss.

—Alexander Tresniowski

2

: on a computer or television screen

You can watch a football game, see a small icon onscreen offering player statistics, click it with the remote, and view the stats.

—Edward W. Desmond

… handheld joysticks and gamepads that jolt and jar with the on-screen action.

—Leigh Gallagher

Examples of on-screen in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Later that day, the parents of other dancers and talent-show participants complained that my afro had covered up their kids on-screen. —Questlove, The Atlantic, 7 Nov. 2025

However, the on-screen star rendered her bob era no more shortly after the film wrapped. —Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 7 Nov. 2025

With these risks avoided, Blackrock focuses on using its system to allow patients to operate computers and, as with Echo, speak via an on-screen avatar. —Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 6 Nov. 2025

While the on-screen connections can be complex, in real life, the cast's partners include notable Hollywood stars; one couple appeared together in HBO's The Last of Us, and another met on the set of Good Sam. —Christopher Rudolph, PEOPLE, 6 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1929, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for on-screen

• agin
• alkene
• allene
• ameen
• amin
• amine
• arene
• athene
• baleen
• beeline
• benzene
• between