offscreen

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adjective

Existing or happening outside the frame of the cinema or television screen.

“Yeah, I also hate her. I hope she gets offscreened in the third act low-key.”

Opposite
onscreen
UncommonScrabble 17
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Meanings

adjectiveoffscreen (not comparable)

alternative off-screen

  1. not comparableExisting or happening outside the frame of the cinema or television screen.

    In addition to racking up what looks like a substantial offscreen body count, the movie at one point offers an eight-second introduction for a sleazy used-car salesman character for the sole purpose of justifying Tripp and Creech laying waste to his inventory.

    2017 January 12, Jesse Hassenger, “A literal monster truck is far from the stupidest thing about Monster Trucks”, in The Onion AV Club

    Antonyms: onscreen

adverboffscreen (not comparable)

alternative off-screen

  1. not comparableOutside the frame of the cinema or television screen.

    Antonyms: onscreen

verboffscreen (third-person singular simple present offscreens, present participle offscreening, simple past and past participle offscreened (very rare))

present singular third person offscreens · participle present offscreening · participle past rare offscreened · past rare offscreened · alternative off-screen

  1. transitiveTo kill a character offscreen.

    Yeah, I also hate her. I hope she gets offscreened in the third act low-key.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveExisting or happening outside the frame of the cinema or television screen.

Opposite
onscreen

adverbOutside the frame of the cinema or television screen.

Opposite
onscreen

Origin

From off + screen.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Danish uden for billedet
  • uden for billedetexisting or happening outside the frame of the cinema or television screen
Finnish kuvan ulkopuolinen
  • kuvan ulkopuolinenexisting or happening outside the frame of the cinema or television screen
French hors-champ
  • hors-champexisting or happening outside the frame of the cinema or television screen
Polish pozaekranowy, poza ekranem
  • pozaekranowyexisting or happening outside the frame of the cinema or television screen
  • poza ekranemoutside the frame of the screen
  • pozaekranowooutside the frame of the screen
  • zabijać poza ekranemto kill a character offscreen
  • zabić poza ekranemto kill a character offscreen
Russian зака́дровый
  • зака́дровый (zakádrovyj)existing or happening outside the frame of the cinema or television screen
Spanish en off, fuera de pantalla
  • en offexisting or happening outside the frame of the cinema or television screen
  • fuera de pantallaexisting or happening outside the frame of the cinema or television screen
  • fuera de la pantallaexisting or happening outside the frame of the cinema or television screen
  • en offoutside the frame of the screen
  • fuera de pantallaoutside the frame of the screen
  • fuera de la pantallaoutside the frame of the screen
Cite this entry
APA

offscreen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/offscreen

MLA

“offscreen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/offscreen. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “offscreen,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/offscreen.

Source: offscreen on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.