Meanings
plural cut scenes · alternative cutscene
- video gamesA usually non-interactive portion of cinematic narrative shown during a video game to advance the story. It may be presented with full motion video or may be rendered with the game engine.
Synonyms: cinematic
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA usually non-interactive portion of cinematic narrative shown during a video game to advance the story. It may be presented with full motion video or may be rendered with the game engine.
Origin
Coined by game designer Ron Gilbert to describe non-interactive cinematic sequences in the 1987 adventure game Maniac Mansion, in reference to the cuts between scenes in films.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 劇情畫面 /剧情画面
- 劇情畫面 /剧情画面 (jùqínghuàmiàn)cinematic narrative in video game
Danish filmsekvens, film
- filmsekvenscinematic narrative in video game
- filmcinematic narrative in video game
Finnish välianimaatio
- välianimaatiocinematic narrative in video game
French cinématique
- cinématiquecinematic narrative in video game
German Zwischensequenz
- Zwischensequenzcinematic narrative in video game
Japanese カットシーン, ムービー
- カットシーン (kattoshīn)cinematic narrative in video game
- ムービー (mūbī)cinematic narrative in video game
- イベント (ibento)cinematic narrative in video game
Portuguese cinemática
- cinemáticacinematic narrative in video game
Slovak prestrihová scéna, cutscéna
- prestrihová scénacinematic narrative in video game
- cutscénacinematic narrative in video game
Spanish cinemática, escena cinematográfica
- cinemáticacinematic narrative in video game
- escena cinematográficacinematic narrative in video game
Cite this entry
cut scene. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cut%20scene
“cut scene.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cut%20scene. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cut scene,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cut%20scene.
Source: cut scene on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.