off-screen

adverb or adjective

variants or offscreen
1
: out of sight of the movie or television viewer
a shot fired off-screen
Before long, Anthony introduces himself to the family pooch, who is whooshed away to an off-screen death.Kris Turnquist
2
: in private life : when not appearing in a movie, on television, etc.
Moyer's off-screen magnetism comes from a down-to-earth friendliness.Kate Hahn
Pfeiffer, 34, remains a mystery woman offscreen.Michael A. Lipton

Examples of off-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.
Lexie was then eaten by wolves off-screen in a scene that's been much-memed. John Russell, People.com, 9 Dec. 2024 Still, the cinematographer Jomo Fray keeps the brutality mostly off-screen in favor of poetic images that capture the boys’ hopes, pleasures and fears. Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2024 How Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin found the funny in the sadness of road-trip dramedy A Real Pain The actor who portrayed Kevin's pain-in-the-butt older brother, Buzz, apparently acted the part off-screen too. Raechal Shewfelt, EW.com, 4 Dec. 2024 If only Claire knew that never in one million years would Outlander have one of its leads drown off-screen. Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 29 Nov. 2024 Jennifer Aniston's then-husband is hilarious as an old high school enemy of Rachel's, a story line made even funnier by knowing that the two were married off-screen at the time. Diana Pearl, People.com, 27 Nov. 2024 Lego Super Mario Peach’s Castle Expansion Set Take the magic from this classic video game off-screen and create Princess Peach’s castle, replete with goombas, Bowser, Bob-ombs, and Toadette. Melissa Epifano, EW.com, 27 Nov. 2024 Talk about the friendship of the characters on-screen and your relationship as a group off-screen. Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 21 Nov. 2024 As more and more viewers caught up on the show, Scott’s onscreen work meant she was being recognized more off-screen. Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 21 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1916, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of off-screen was in 1916

Dictionary Entries Near off-screen

Cite this Entry

“Off-screen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/off-screen. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

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