scripted

1. 1
   adjective

   Written or prepared in advance, before being read aloud or performed.

   The awards ceremony followed a tightly scripted sequence of speeches and musical numbers.

   Every moment of the broadcast was scripted weeks before the cameras rolled.

   Similarprepared, rehearsed, planned, choreographed

   Oppositeimprovised, spontaneous, impromptu, unrehearsed

   Note

   Plays and broadcasts are not the only things that get scripted. A meeting, an introduction or any real-life event can be, when its moves are arranged beforehand. The adjective is gradable (more scripted, most scripted) and often takes an adverb of degree: carefully scripted, tightly scripted. Unlike the "trite" sense, it does not judge the result. It simply says the planning happened.

2. 2
   adjective

   Predictable and unoriginal, as if following a tired, expected pattern rather than saying anything fresh.

   The politician's apology came across as scripted and utterly insincere.

   Every twist in the novel felt scripted, hitting the same predictable beats as a hundred others.

   Similarrehearsed, canned, formulaic, predictable, contrived

   Oppositespontaneous, original, fresh

3. 3
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of script.

   The director scripted the documentary's narration herself.

   The episode was scripted by a team of three writers over two months.

   Note

   One spelling does two grammatical jobs: the simple past (she scripted the narration) and the past participle that follows have or be (has scripted, was scripted). The verb behind it means devising or contriving as well as writing a script. A passive like the encounter was scripted can therefore mean engineered, and there it shades into the "planned in advance" adjective.

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