Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
Pinter

Pinter

11 8.2
An English playwright known for long silences and tense pauses
  • proper noun
  • /ˈpɪntər/
: Harold Pinter
  • Many consider Pinter to be one of the most influential British dramatists of the 20th century.
  • Pinter Publishers

Examples

  • Since he expressed an interest in contemporary drama, I asked if he had read Bertholt Brecht, Harold Pinter, or Jerzy Grotowski.

    Academic text (1996)

  • Harold Pinter is known for his unique style that incorporates pauses and silences in his plays.

  • I felt like I was doing this crazy Pinter play.

  • You wouldn't get Harold Pinter pushing a van down the street.

    The Lady in the Van (2015)

  • Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter wrote, "What has happened to our moral sensibility?"

    Blog text (8)

  • In his plays, Shand has also shown a preference for dramas of the absurd, bringing to mind the works of Pinter and Samuel Beckett.

    Academic text (1997)

  • Kazanoff's directing credits include productions as varied as Shakespeare, Bertolt Brecht, Lillian Hellman, and Harold Pinter.

    Blog text (23)

  • The award-winning playwright Pinter won the Nobel Prize in Literature for his impactful works.

Surface Forms

Pinter main

Etymology

Pinter is the surname of Harold Pinter, an English playwright who lived 1930 to 2008 and was famous for using 'silence' and short 'pauses' in his plays. So when people say Pinter, they often mean that quiet, tense style of drama.