: 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 …—
Evening Chronicle
Evening ChronicleSo the two began plastering up playbills and cultivating a badboy image.—Logan Hill
Logan Hill
—used for a theater program (see program entry 1 sense 2a)
Examples of playbill in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 21 Feb. 2025
He was still listed in the Bushnell playbill on Tuesday, but an insert page in that playbill announced that Jonah Barricklo, Almeida’s understudy, is now Peter Pan.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 6 Feb. 2025
The sweet post featured a photo of the costars backstage followed by throwback pictures of the two of them and one snap of Armitage, 16, holding up the show’s playbill.
—Liza Esquibias, People.com, 30 Dec. 2024
The centerpiece of the room was a fireplace, with playbills, works of art, and photographs of friends and family propped up on the mantle.
—Alex Barasch, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024
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Noun
Knick-knacks from menorahs to playbills of Josephine Baker are jammed in every corner.
—Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 21 Feb. 2025
He was still listed in the Bushnell playbill on Tuesday, but an insert page in that playbill announced that Jonah Barricklo, Almeida’s understudy, is now Peter Pan.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 6 Feb. 2025
The sweet post featured a photo of the costars backstage followed by throwback pictures of the two of them and one snap of Armitage, 16, holding up the show’s playbill.
—Liza Esquibias, People.com, 30 Dec. 2024
The centerpiece of the room was a fireplace, with playbills, works of art, and photographs of friends and family propped up on the mantle.
—Alex Barasch, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for playbill
Cite this Entry
“Playbill.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/playbill. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
playbill
noun
play·bill
ˈplā-ˌbil 
: a poster advertising a play
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