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cineplex

cineplex

2 3.4
A large movie theater with many screens showing different films at the same time
  • noun
  • /ˈsɪnəˌplɛks/
  • US
translation icon : cineplex
  • Quality 16 frequently shows simulcasts of Metropolitan Opera productions, but somehow when it's happening out there at the cineplex, it seems like it's only replacing Die Hard in a Hail of Bullets, Part 16.
  • a local cineplex

Examples

  • The best part of this whole bargain is for $50,000 down payment, I get the whole building, and I open my cineplex.

  • They're building a cineplex there and they're making us an offer.

  • Finding Henry James is hard, especially when he's playing at the cineplex.

    Academic text (2007)
  • I'm talking about building major studios, cineplex chains, even theme parks.

  • Enjoy your Thanksgiving, and keep up the good work letting me know about the good movies out there, although they rarely come to my local cineplex.

    Blog text (9)
  • Maybe twice a month they go to a movie at a cineplex in a giant mall over on Palmetto Palm Boulevard, two miles away.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Used to be, a studio would negotiate with the theater chains to get each movie into the cineplex, with the theater keeping a percentage of ticket sales.

    Blog text (17)
  • They wandered in and out of stores until they found their way to the ten-screen cineplex at the other end of the mall.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • I had to wade through the Twilight premiere on my way out of work (I work at a theater)... shoulder-to-shoulder people in our 17-screen cineplex...

    Blog text (3)
  • The whole family went to the cineplex to watch the latest superhero movie on a Saturday night.

Synonyms

theater
vscineplex
  • US
553 1.0

A building where people go to see plays or movies

is specifically a large multi-screen film complex rather than any performance space
movie theater
vscineplex
  • US
110 1.0

A building where people go to watch movies on a big screen

is a larger multi-screen complex rather than a simple single auditorium
cinema
vscineplex
65 1.0

A building where people go to watch films on a screen

is specifically a large multi-screen complex rather than a single building
movie house
vscineplex
  • US
12 1.6

A building where people go to watch movies

is a large multi-screen complex rather than a small single-screen venue
multiplex
vscineplex
  • Specialized
7 4.1

A cinema with several screens that shows different films at the same time

is larger and emphasizes a bigger complex with more screens
odeon
vscineplex
  • UK
1 6.3

A building where people go to watch films

is a large multi-screen complex rather than any general film venue
megaplex
vscineplex
  • US
1 4.9

A very large movie theater with many screens showing different films

is a large complex with multiple screens rather than extremely large
cine
vscineplex
  • UK
1 6.0

A building where people go to watch movies

is a large multi-screen complex rather than a general single-screen building
picture palace
vscineplex
  • Archaic
1 8.9

An old-fashioned cinema where films are shown to the public

is a modern large multi-screen complex rather than an old single-screen venue
multiscreen
vscineplex
3.9

A cinema with several rooms showing different films

is larger and denotes a big multi-auditorium complex

How Big

megaplex
  • US
1 4.9
cineplex
  • US
2 3.4
multiplex
  • Specialized
7 4.1
cinema
65 1.0

Surface Forms

cineplex singular
cineplexes plural

Morphology

cineplex = cinema (transparent) = cine + plex

The word is transparently formed from 'cinema' (cine-) plus the combining element '-plex' (as in 'multiplex'), indicating a complex of cinema screens.

Etymology

Cineplex comes from cine- (as in cinema, which means 'movie') and -plex (from complex, which means 'many parts'). So a cineplex is a movie complex with many screens to choose from, which explains its modern meaning.