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

Litwin suggests putting screen time limits on a child’s phone and encouraging them to try new offline hobbies and activities. —Beth Ann Mayer, Parents, 24 Sep. 2025

Austin Nichols had racked up plenty of screen time before landing the role of Julian Baker on One Tree Hill in 2008. —Alexandra Schonfeld, PEOPLE, 23 Sep. 2025

The rapper Killer Mike makes the most of his limited screen time as the no-nonsense publisher of a local tabloid that prints Lee’s more lowbrow, retaliatory material, including the mug shots and criminal histories of some goons who assaulted him. —Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025

Baby Yoda gets the most screen time in the footage, and nearly every character is either wearing a mask or a creature or a robot — the only clear human face shown is Sigourney Weaver as a Rebel Alliance colonel. —James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 22 Sep. 2025

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