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

Elsa Lanchester’s performance as the hissing, glamorous Bride — which was inspired, in part, by swans at the zoo — is fabulous as well, making a legendary impression with only seven minutes of screen time. —Katie Rife, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025

So longtime fans may be understandably disappointed that many of these memorable undersea creatures see limited screen time, elbowed aside in favor of the nefarious ghost pirate the Flying Dutchman and his ghoulish crew. —Justin Lowe, HollywoodReporter, 28 Oct. 2025

The queen of children’s media weighs in on the screen time debate in her Glamour Woman of the Year interview. —Emily Tannenbaum, Glamour, 27 Oct. 2025

Parents can enjoy guilt free screen time , which is actually educational. —Daniel Fusch, USA Today, 27 Oct. 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