screen
SCREEN meaning: a physical barrier that shelters or hides; the word scores 8 points in Scrabble.
Noun 4 meanings
A physical barrier that shelters or hides.
“a fire screen”
A material woven from fine wires intended to block animals or large particles from passing while allowing gasses, liquids and finer particles to pass.
Searching through a sample for a target; an act of screening, or the method for it.
“a drug screen, a genetic screen”
A surface on which various forms or formats of information are displayed.
Verb 4 meanings
To filter by passing through a screen.
“Mary screened the beans to remove the clumps of gravel.”
To filter.
“Passenger baggage was screened by X-ray to look for weapons.”
To shelter or conceal.
To remove information, or censor intellectual material from viewing. To hide the facts.
“The news report was screened because it accused the politician of wrongdoing.”
Etymology
From Middle English scren, screne (“windscreen, firescreen”), from Anglo-Norman escren (“firescreen, the tester of a bed”), Old French escren, escrein, escran (modern French écran (“screen”)), from Middle Dutch scherm, from Old Dutch skirm, from Proto-West Germanic *skirmi, from Proto-Germanic *skirmiz (“fur, shelter, covering, screen”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut, divide”).
Similar and opposite words
SCREEN is a common six-letter English word with a concrete definition: a physical barrier that shelters or hides. Its tile mix has five one-point letters and a C worth three. That gives it an 8-point base score, while four anagrams and four one-letter neighbours make its letter pattern interesting to check in word games.
SCREEN at a glance
- SCREEN has six letters and means a physical barrier that shelters or hides.
- Its Collins, NWL2023, and ENABLE entries make it valid in those word-game lexicons.
- The Scrabble total is 8: C is worth 3, while S, R, both Es, and N are worth 1 each.
- CENSER, SECERN, CERNES, and SCERNE are its four anagrams.
What does SCREEN mean, and what does it score?
SCREEN means a physical barrier that shelters or hides. A partition or other protective barrier fits that definition: it stands between something and exposure. The definition here is the noun sense, so it does not cover every possible use of “screen” as a verb.
In Scrabble, SCREEN scores 8 points before board bonuses. The C supplies 3 points; S, R, E, E, and N contribute 1 each. The two Es keep the word's base value modest, so a premium letter square under C matters more than simply placing the word on a bonus word square.
Which words share SCREEN’s letters?
SCREEN has four listed anagrams: CENSER, SECERN, CERNES, and SCERNE. CENSER is the most recognizable everyday option; the other arrangements are less familiar, so check your game's word list before building a play around one.
Changing one letter gives four neighbours: SCREED, SCREES, SCREET, and SKREEN. These preserve the five-letter skeleton “S C R E E” except SKREEN, which swaps C for K. That shared pattern is a useful way to spot extensions, but the neighbours are not interchangeable with SCREEN in meaning.
SCREEN also belongs to a rhyme group of 12 words ending in the same “een” sound, including SEEN, GREEN, QUEEN, and BETWEEN. That sound match is not a spelling match: only the four anagrams use exactly the same six letters.
Rhymes with screen
All rhymesOne letter away
- SCREED9
- SCREES8
- SCREET8
- SKREEN10
Questions people ask
Is SCREEN a valid Scrabble word?
What are the anagrams of SCREEN?
How many one-letter neighbours does SCREEN have?
Keep going
Related lists
Looking for a different word?
Type the letters you have and the Finder shows every word that fits.