playbill

1 of 2

noun

play·​bill ˈplā-ˌbil How to pronounce playbill (audio)
Synonyms of playbillnext
: a bill (see bill entry 4 sense 5a) advertising a public performance or set of performances
A playbill—an early poster—advertising Shakespeare's Hamlet at Newcastle's original Theatre Royal in Mosley Street in December 1791 was discovered among prints bought in an auction sale …—Tony Henderson
So the two began plastering up playbills and cultivating a badboy image.—Logan Hill

Playbill

2 of 2

trademark

—used for a theater program (see program entry 1 sense 2a)

Examples of playbill in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
The names of the oldest Metro stations also contained micro-histories, so too the faded playbills of the theaters and chipped words at the tramcar stop. — Literary Hub, 3 Apr. 2026 The ads and sponsorships and thank-yous in Seven Angels playbills are a who’s-who of the Waterbury business community. — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 3 June 2026 The couple shared their excitement for Joaquin's performance on social media, with Ripa sharing photos of the show's playbill on her Instagram stories. — Edward Segarra, USA Today, 10 Apr. 2026 According to his bio in the playbill, Zelig graduated from Pace University with a BFA in commercial dance. — Veronica Fulton, NBC news, 11 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for playbill

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1610, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of playbill was in 1610

Rhymes for playbill

See All Rhymes for playbill

Browse Nearby Words

play ball
playbill
Playbill
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Playbill.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/playbill. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

playbill

noun
play·​bill ˈplā-ˌbil How to pronounce playbill (audio)
: a poster advertising a play

More from Merriam-Webster on playbill

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for playbill

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All