On-screen or onscreen?
on-screen is an adjective meaning “Alternative form of onscreen”; onscreen is an adjective meaning “As seen on a screen (as of television, film, or computer) rather than in real…”. on-screen is written with a hyphen and onscreen as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between on-screen and onscreen?
| on-screen | onscreen | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective, adverb | adjective, adverb |
| Meaning | Alternative form of onscreen | As seen on a screen (as of television, film, or computer) rather than in real life Inside the frame of the cinema, television or computer screen |
| Example | none recorded | The two actors had a very realistic onscreen romance, but in reality they couldn't stand each other |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | not recorded |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | about once in every 1 million words |
Sources: on-screen and onscreen in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of on-screen and onscreen
on-screen
- 1
Alternative form of onscreen
- 2
Alternative form of onscreen
onscreen
- 1
As seen on a screen (as of television, film, or computer) rather than in real life
The two actors had a very realistic onscreen romance, but in reality they couldn't stand each other
- 2
Inside the frame of the cinema, television or computer screen
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, on-screen or onscreen?
on-screen is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; onscreen about once in every 1 million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).