screenplay

noun

screen·​play ˈskrēn-ˌplā 

: the script and often shooting directions of a story prepared for movie production

Synonyms of screenplay

• script

Examples of screenplay in a Sentence

an award for best screenplay

each actor will be given a copy of the screenplay to study

Recent Examples on the Web

What to read next The Baffling Time-Tripping Plot The confusing screenplay by Mark Rosenthal, William Broyles Jr and Lawrence Konner was cobbled together at the last minute and was still being rewritten as cameras began rolling. — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 27 July 2026

Martín Cuervo directs from a screenplay by Arturo Ruiz Serrano and José Manuel Carrasco. — John Hopewell, Variety, 27 July 2026

Long before OpenAI broke out of its test corral and hacked into Hugging Face, before the internet and Sam Altman were even born, Cameron wrote a screenplay about an autonomous artificial intelligence system that triggers a nuclear apocalypse. — ABC News, 26 July 2026

Moonstruck is a thoughtful exploration on the sheer messiness of love, guided by Cher’s Academy Award-winning performance and a tour-de-force screenplay written by John Patrick Shanley. — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 23 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1920, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for screenplay

• airway
• allay
• archway
• array
• ashtray
• assez
• astray
• aue
• away
• ballet
• belay
• beltway

Kids Definition

screenplay

noun

screen·​play ˈskrēn-ˌplā 

: the written form of a story prepared for film production