on-screen

adverb or adjective

variants or onscreen
1
: in a movie or a television program
But the makers of the 1958 movie understood that this most subtle of writers was telling a tale about the froth of life, and they celebrated it on-screen with gusto.—Gerald Asher
The sixth-grader reportedly earned $1 million for starring in the upcoming My Girl, which pairs him with Anna Chlumsky for his first onscreen kiss.—Alexander Tresniowski
2
: on a computer or television screen
You can watch a football game, see a small icon onscreen offering player statistics, click it with the remote, and view the stats.—Edward W. Desmond
… handheld joysticks and gamepads that jolt and jar with the on-screen action.—Leigh Gallagher

Examples of on-screen 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.
Tyler Shultz, a former Theranos research engineer who helped expose the company’s faulty blood-testing technology, barely recognized the woman on-screen. — Bilin Lin, Fortune, 20 Oct. 2026 But what’s most galvanizing about YCSE is how that destabilization is enacted on its other on-screen participants, and by the end the audience itself, through the catalytic effects of its later acts. — Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 19 Oct. 2026 The game makes heavy use of ray tracing and multiple particle effects on-screen at once, as well as volumetric fog and other effects over dense geometry. — Joe Osborne, PC Magazine, 17 Oct. 2026 Others are posting deep dives comparing the books with their on-screen counterparts, fueling discussion over what Hollywood gets right — and wrong. — Kayla Hayempour, NBC news, 16 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for on-screen

Word History

First Known Use

1929, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of on-screen was in 1929

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“On-screen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/on-screen. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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