feature film

/ˌfitʃər fɪlm/

/ˈfitʃə fɪlm/

Other forms: feature films

A feature film is a full-length movie, usually about two hours long. Most people sitting in cinemas with their popcorn and candy are there to watch a feature film.

In the old days, theaters showed cartoons, newsreels, and other short films in addition to the main movie. Longer films came to be known as feature films or just features to clarify that they were the featured event, and to distinguish them from the shorter ones. These days, a movie must have a particular running time to officially be considered a feature film and qualify for distribution and certain awards.

Definitions of feature film

1. noun

   the principal (full-length) film in a program at a movie theater
   synonyms: feature

   types:

   Western, horse opera

   a film or novel about life in the western United States during the period of exploration and development

   spaghetti Western

   a low-budget Western movie produced by a European (especially an Italian) film company

   type of:

   film, flick, motion picture, motion-picture show, movie, moving picture, moving-picture show, pic, picture, picture show

   a form of entertainment that enacts a story by sound and a sequence of images giving the illusion of continuous movement