Standard Lemma guide

screenplay

noun · verb · 3 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.

  • US: /ˈskɹiːnˌpleɪ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: S K R IY1 N P L EY2 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A script for a movie or a television show; especially, the former specifically.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: authorship, broadcasting, cinematography, communications, film, journalism, literature, media, publishing, television, writing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: play, script

2

verb

Meaning 2

To write a screenplay.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: script, write

3

noun

Meaning 3

a script for a film including dialogue and descriptions of characters and sets

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

History

Etymology

From screen + play.

Across languages

Translations

59 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: skenar — script for a movie or a television show
  • Arabic: سِينَارْيُو (sināryū) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Armenian: սցենար (scʻenar) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Belarusian: сцэна́рый (scenáryj) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Belarusian: сцэна́р (scenár) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Bengali: চিত্রনাট্য (citronaṭṭo) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Bulgarian: сцена́рий (scenárij) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Burmese: ဇာတ်ညွှန်း (jathnywan:) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Catalan: guió — script for a movie or a television show
  • Chinese Mandarin: 電影劇本 /电影剧本 (diànyǐng jùběn) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Chinese Mandarin: 劇本 /剧本 (jùběn) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Chinese Mandarin: 腳本 /脚本 (jiǎoběn) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Czech: scénář — script for a movie or a television show
  • Danish: manuskript — script for a movie or a television show
  • Dutch: scenario — script for a movie or a television show
  • Finnish: käsikirjoitus — script for a movie or a television show
  • French: scénario — script for a movie or a television show
  • Georgian: სცენარი (scenari) — script for a movie or a television show
  • German: Drehbuch — script for a movie or a television show
  • Greek: σενάριο (senário) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Hindi: पटकथा (paṭakthā) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Hindi: परिदृश्य (paridŕśya) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Hungarian: forgatókönyv — script for a movie or a television show
  • Indonesian: naskah film — script for a movie or a television show
  • Indonesian: cerita film — script for a movie or a television show
  • Italian: sceneggiatura — script for a movie or a television show
  • Japanese: 脚本 (kyakuhon) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Japanese: スクリーンプレー (sukurīnpurē) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Japanese: シナリオ (shinario) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Japanese: 台本 (daihon) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Khmer: នាដកថា (niədaʼkaʼthaa) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Korean: 각본 (gakbon) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Korean: 시나리오 (sinario) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Korean: 대본 (daebon) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Lao: ບົດລະຄອນ (bot la khǭn) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Latin: scaenarium — script for a movie or a television show
  • Macedonian: сценарио (scenario) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Malay: lakon layar — script for a movie or a television show
  • Norwegian Bokmål: scenario — script for a movie or a television show
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: scenario — script for a movie or a television show
  • Iranian Persian: فیلْمْنامِه (filmnâme) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Iranian Persian: سِنارِیو (senâriyo) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Polish: scenariusz — script for a movie or a television show
  • Portuguese: roteiro — script for a movie or a television show
  • Portuguese: argumento — script for a movie or a television show
  • Romanian: scenariu — script for a movie or a television show
  • Russian: сцена́рий (scenárij) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Serbo-Croatian: сценарио — script for a movie or a television show
  • Serbo-Croatian: scenario — script for a movie or a television show
  • Slovak: scenár — script for a movie or a television show
  • Slovene: scenarij — script for a movie or a television show
  • Spanish: guion — script for a movie or a television show
  • Spanish: script — script for a movie or a television show
  • Swedish: manuskript — script for a movie or a television show
  • Swedish: scenario — script for a movie or a television show
  • Thai: บทละคร (bòt-lá-kɔɔn) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Turkish: senaryo — script for a movie or a television show
  • Ukrainian: сцена́рій (scenárij) — script for a movie or a television show
  • Vietnamese: kịch bản — script for a movie or a television show
Real reading context

screenplay in complete knowledge articles