Standard Lemma guide

scenario

noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /sɪˈnɑːɹi.əʊ/
  • US: /sɪˈnɛəɹioʊ/
  • US: /sɪˈnæɹioʊ/
  • US: /sɪˈnɑɹioʊ/
  • Australian: /səˈneːɹi.əʉ/
  • Australian: /səˈnæːɹi.əʉ/
  • Australian: /səˈnɐːɹi.əʉ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S IH0 N EH1 R IY0 OW0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A screenplay itself, or an outline or a treatment of it.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a postulated sequence of possible events

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • planners developed several scenarios in case of an attack

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: premise, premiss, assumption

5

noun

Meaning 5

an outline or synopsis of a play (or, by extension, of a literary work)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: script, book, playscript

6

noun

Meaning 6

a setting for a work of art or literature

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the scenario is France during the Reign of Terror

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: setting, scene

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh3-der. Ancient Greek σκηνή (skēnḗ)bor. Latin scēnabor. Italian scena Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -ārius Proto-Indo-European *-om Proto-Italic *-om Latin -um Latin -āriumbor. Italian -ario Italian scenariobor. English scenario Borrowed from Italian scenario, from scena + -ario.

Across languages

Translations

98 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: սցենար (scʻenar) — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Bulgarian: сцена́рий (scenárij) — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Catalan: escenari — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Cebuano: senaryo — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Dutch: scenario — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Finnish: skenaario — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • German: Szenario — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Greek: σενάριο (senário) — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Indonesian: skenario — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Irish: cás — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Italian: scenario — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Italian: panorama — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Norwegian Bokmål: scenario — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: scenario — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Polish: scenariusz — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Portuguese: cenário — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Russian: сцена́рий (scenárij) — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Spanish: escenario — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Spanish: supuesto — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Spanish: situación hipotética — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Swedish: scenario — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Thai: ฉากทัศน์ (chàak-tát) — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Turkish: senaryo — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Vietnamese: trường hợp — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Vietnamese: kịch bản — outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events
  • Albanian: skenar — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Arabic: سِينَارْيُو (sināryū) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Armenian: սցենար (scʻenar) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Belarusian: сцэна́рый (scenáryj) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Belarusian: сцэна́р (scenár) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Bulgarian: сцена́рий (scenárij) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Burmese: ဇာတ်ညွှန်း (jathnywan:) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Catalan: argument — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Catalan: trama — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Cebuano: senaryo — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Chinese Mandarin: 腳本 /脚本 (jiǎoběn) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Chinese Mandarin: 場景 /场景 (chǎngjǐng) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Dutch: scenario — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Finnish: käsikirjoitus — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Finnish: skenaario — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • French: scénario — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Galician: escenario — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Georgian: სცენარი (scenari) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • German: Szenario — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • German: Szenarium — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Greek: σενάριο (senário) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Hindi: परिदृश्य (paridŕśya) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Hungarian: forgatókönyv — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Indonesian: skenario — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Italian: copione — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Japanese: 脚本 (kyakuhon) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Japanese: 台本 (daihon) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Japanese: シナリオ (shinario) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Kazakh: сценарий (ssenarii) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Khmer: នាដកថា (niədaʼkaʼthaa) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Korean: 각본 (gakbon) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Korean: 대본 (daebon) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Korean: 시나리오 (sinario) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Kyrgyz: сценарий (stsenariy) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Lao: ບົດລະຄອນ (bot la khǭn) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Latin: scaenarium — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Macedonian: сценарио (scenario) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Malay: senario — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Norwegian Bokmål: scenario — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: scenario — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Iranian Persian: سِنارْیو (senâryo) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Polish: scenariusz — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Portuguese: argumento — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Romanian: scenariu — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Russian: сцена́рий (scenárij) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Serbo-Croatian: сцѐна̄рӣј — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Serbo-Croatian: scènārīj — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Slovak: scenár — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Slovene: scenarij — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Spanish: escenario — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Swedish: scenario — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Thai: บทละคร (bòt-lá-kɔɔn) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Turkish: senaryo — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Ukrainian: сцена́рій (scenárij) — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Vietnamese: truyện phim — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Vietnamese: kịch bản — outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
  • Armenian: սցենար (scʻenar) — screenplay or an outline or treatment thereof
  • Bulgarian: сцена́рий (scenárij) — screenplay or an outline or treatment thereof
  • Catalan: guió — screenplay or an outline or treatment thereof
  • Dutch: scenario — screenplay or an outline or treatment thereof
  • Finnish: käsikirjoitus — screenplay or an outline or treatment thereof
  • Finnish: skenaario — screenplay or an outline or treatment thereof
  • Greek: σενάριο (senário) — screenplay or an outline or treatment thereof
  • Indonesian: skenario — screenplay or an outline or treatment thereof
  • Italian: sceneggiatura — screenplay or an outline or treatment thereof
  • Māori: tauari — screenplay or an outline or treatment thereof
  • Norwegian Bokmål: scenario — screenplay or an outline or treatment thereof
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: scenario — screenplay or an outline or treatment thereof
  • Iranian Persian: سِنارْیو (senâryo) — screenplay or an outline or treatment thereof
  • Polish: scenariusz — screenplay or an outline or treatment thereof
  • Russian: сцена́рий (scenárij) — screenplay or an outline or treatment thereof
  • Swedish: scenario — screenplay or an outline or treatment thereof
  • Turkish: senaryo — screenplay or an outline or treatment thereof
Real reading context

scenario in complete knowledge articles