screen time

noun

1

: the amount of time someone or something appears on screen in a movie or television show

… the widespread practice of product placement (in which companies buy screen time for their brands) …

—Celia Wren

Peck's role is only a cameo—23 minutes of screen time scattered through six and a half hours of edited film …

—John Skow

2

: time spent watching television, playing a video game, or using an electronic device with a screen (such as a smartphone or tablet)

Concerns about children spending too much time on digital devices—'screen time'—and becoming overdependent on these devices are very real for many teachers and parents.

—Nicky Hockly

If yours is like most American families with kids under age 5, your child probably watches between three and four hours of television a day. That's a lot of screen time …

—Debra Kent

Examples of screen time in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Parents cheer the passing of a resolution to limit screen time at a recent Los Angeles school board meeting. —Tyler Kingkade, NBC news, 12 May 2026

The complaint points to autoplay functions and recommendation algorithms, arguing that they are intentionally engineered to maximize screen time and harvest additional user data. —Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 11 May 2026

As screen time rises, older students need time to unplug, move and recharge. —Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 11 May 2026

Then the pandemic hit, and as kids navigated tough situations at home, isolation, more screen time and school closures, misbehavior got worse. —Stacker, Hartford Courant, 9 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1921, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for screen time

• airtime
• bedtime
• daytime
• downtime
• enzyme
• halftime
• lifetime
• longtime
• lunchtime
• mealtime
• meantime
• nighttime