on-screen

adverb or adjective

ˈȯn-ˈskrēn 

ˈän-

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

After a certain amount of playtime, what’s on-screen stops looking like a coherent world and starts looking like inputs and outputs, challenges and rewards. —Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 25 Apr. 2025

This upcoming racing game was first spotted during the Switch 2's teaser reveal, and surprised many viewers with its number of on-screen racers (now confirmed to be a hefty 24 drivers). —Gabriel Zamora, PC Magazine, 24 Apr. 2025

Taylor Kitsch After landing her breakout role as Lyla Garrity on Friday Night Lights in 2007, Kelly began quietly dating her on-screen love interest, Taylor Kitsch, despite director Peter Berg’s advice to avoid an off-screen romance. —Kelsey Lentz, People.com, 23 Apr. 2025

Below, check out all our favorite online shopping picks, on-screen dramas and more, courtesy of the USA TODAY Shopping team. —Kasey Caminiti, USA Today, 23 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1929, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for on-screen

• agin
• alkene
• allene
• ameen
• amin
• amine
• arene
• athene
• baleen
• beeline
• benzene
• between