What does "screenwriter" mean?

One who writes for the screen, who writes drama for film or television; especially a professional who knows the conventions appropriate to such work.

Screenwriter

Common synonyms include: scriptwriter, choreographer, comedian, dramatist, dramatizer, dramaturge.

noun

noun ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
One who writes for the screen, who writes drama for film or television; especially a professional who knows the conventions appropriate to such work.
2
someone who writes screenplays wordnet

"I think that Tom used to be a screenwriter."

From screen + writer.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.