screenplay
/ˈskɹiːnˌpleɪ/noun, verb
screenplay is spelled S-C-R-E-E-N-P-L-A-Y: 10 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 14,106th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, screenplay means “A script for a movie or (less commonly) a television show” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of screenplay is screenplays.
How many letters and syllables are in screenplay?
| Letters | 10: S-C-R-E-E-N-P-L-A-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.5 times per million words; the 14,106th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is screenplay?
Screenplay appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 14,106th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce screenplay?
- US /ˈskɹiːnˌpleɪ/
Screenplay has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-screenplay.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of screenplay
- screenplays plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- screen play
- screenplaying participle, present
- screenplayed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does screenplay mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A script for a movie or (less commonly) a television show.
I know Corinne would be happy if I started writing scripts again. Since my last screenplay, I haven't written anything in over four months.
verb
- 1
To write a screenplay for.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Screenplay in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense script for a movie or a television show:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does screenplay come from?
From screen + play.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).