: 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
Denise Petski, Deadline, 28 Nov. 2024
Each vintage the back labels are different, and resemble traditional circus tickets and playbills, containing creative and humorous messages that harken to the olden days of wonder and spectacle.
—Tyler Shepherd, USA TODAY, 21 Apr. 2024
According to a Citadel Theatre playbill, Arnold played the roles of Marley and Mr. Fezziwig in the show, which runs till Christmas Eve.
—Ingrid Vasquez, People.com, 28 Nov. 2024
Destiny's Child top 10 music videos, ranked Beyoncé also posed with a playbill in a photo with her mom and Rowland (which was hilariously included twice, with the first iteration cropping out the other two women).
—Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 23 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for playbill 
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.
Noun
Arnold played the roles of Marley and Mr. Fezziwig in A Christmas Carol, according to the Citadel’s playbill.
—Denise Petski, Deadline, 28 Nov. 2024
Each vintage the back labels are different, and resemble traditional circus tickets and playbills, containing creative and humorous messages that harken to the olden days of wonder and spectacle.
—Tyler Shepherd, USA TODAY, 21 Apr. 2024
According to a Citadel Theatre playbill, Arnold played the roles of Marley and Mr. Fezziwig in the show, which runs till Christmas Eve.
—Ingrid Vasquez, People.com, 28 Nov. 2024
Destiny's Child top 10 music videos, ranked Beyoncé also posed with a playbill in a photo with her mom and Rowland (which was hilariously included twice, with the first iteration cropping out the other two women).
—Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 23 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for playbill
Dictionary Entries Near playbill
Cite this Entry
“Playbill.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/playbill. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
playbill
noun
play·bill
ˈplā-ˌbil 
: a poster advertising a play
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share