Word.ws English Dictionary

shadowplay

shadowplay is the alternative form of shadow play.

Meaning of shadow play

Noun

shadow play (countable and uncountable, plural shadow plays)

  1. (hand games) An ancient form of storytelling and entertainment using opaque, often articulated figures in front of an illuminated backdrop to create the illusion of moving images.
    • The project invokes aesthetics particularly associated with children: play, craft, and amateurism. Indeed, especially in segments that employ elements such as a spotlight and shadowplay, Green Porno is reminiscent of an elementary-school pageant.2018, Nicole Seymour, Bad Environmentalism, page 86
    Synonyms:
    shadow puppetry
  2. A play of this form.

Forms of shadowplay

pluralshadowplays

Questions about shadowplay

What is shadowplay the alternative form of?
Shadowplay is the alternative form of shadow play.

Words near shadowplay in the dictionary

  1. shadowland
  2. shadowlands
  3. shadowless
  4. shadowlessness
  5. shadowlike
  6. shadowplay
  7. shadowplays
  8. shadows
  9. shadowy
  10. shadowzone
  11. shadowzones

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: shadowplay (page history and authors); shadow play (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “shadowplay.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/shadowplay. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.