English word senses marked with topical category "Plot devices"
Parent categories: Fiction, Narratology, Artistic works, Drama, Literature, Art, Theater, Culture, Entertainment, Writing, Society, Human behaviour, Language, Human, Communication
Subcategories: Magic words
Total 64 word senses
- Belly of the Whale (Noun) A story element which represents the final separation from a hero's known world and self.
- Chekhov's gun (Proper name) A dramatic principle that states that every element in a story must be necessary, and irrelevant elements should be removed.
- Chekhov's gun (Proper name) An element that is introduced early in the story whose significance to the plot does not become clear until later.
- MacGuffin (Noun) A plot element or other device used to catch the audience's attention and maintain suspense, but whose exact nature has fairly little influence over the storyline.
- Mary Sue (Noun) A fictional character, usually female, whose implausible talents and likeability weaken the story.
- Truck-kun (Proper name) In the isekai genre, a truck that sets off the plot by striking the main character, transporting them into the fantastical setting.
- abracadabra (Interjection) Used to indicate that a magic trick or other illusion has been performed.
- abracadabrangle (Noun) A representation of the word "abracadabra" in the visual form of a triangle, used as an amulet or charm.
- alakazam (Interjection) A magic word used in conjuring; presto, shazaam.
- analepsis (Noun) A form of flashback in which earlier parts of a narrative are related to others that have already been narrated
- balonium (Noun) A fictional chemical element.
- bed trick (Noun) A plot device in traditional literature and theatre where a character begins sexual activity with someone else, then steals away after the lights are off, allowing another character to continue instead.
- bibbidi-bobbidi-boo (Interjection) A light-hearted magical incantation.
- big red button (Noun) A real, fictional, or figurative button that controls a function of critical importance and that is usually large and red, ensuring quick identification.
- bury your gays (Noun) A fiction trope where gay characters tend to die or generally meet some bad end.
- cliffhanger (Noun) An outcome which is awaited with keen anticipation, especially one which is delayed for a period of time or which is not known until the last minute.
- dangler (Noun) A dangling participle.
- deathtrap (Noun) A plot device where a villain in a story puts a hero in an elaborate dangerous situation for the purposes of attempting a sadistic murder.
- deus ex machina (Noun) Any resolution to a story that does not pay due regard to the story's internal logic and that is so unlikely that it challenges suspension of disbelief, and presumably allows the author, director, or developer to end the story in the way that they desired.
- deus ex machina (Noun) A contrived solution to a problem, relying on an agent external to the situation.
- deus ex machina (Noun) A deity in Greek and Roman drama who was brought in by stage machinery to intervene in a difficult situation (i.e., to resolve a crisis, or untangle issues surrounding it, a character logically expected to do so).
- deus ex machina (Noun) A machine used to bring an actor playing a god onto the stage, either up through a trapdoor or (e.g. by crane) from above.
- dreamworld (Noun) An imaginary world, such as experienced while dreaming.
- eucatastrophe (Noun) A catastrophe (dramatic event leading to plot resolution) that results in the protagonist's well-being.
- flashback (Noun) A dramatic device in which an earlier event is inserted into the normal chronological flow of a narrative.
- hamartia (Noun) The tragic flaw of the protagonist in a literary tragedy.
- handwavium (Noun) Any hypothetical but unobtainable material with desirable engineering properties.
- happily ever after (Noun) A story with such a happy ending, such as a romance novel or fairy tale.
- happy ending (Noun) A clichéd conclusion in which all loose ends are tied up and all main characters are content.
- hey pass (Interjection) A conjurer's exclamation on performing a magic trick; hey presto.
- hey presto (Interjection) Used by stage magicians, when performing a magic trick.
- hocus pocus (Interjection) Alternative spelling of hocus-pocus
- hocus-pocus (Interjection) A phrase used (by a stage magician, etc.) as a magical incantation to bring about some change: abracadabra, hey presto.
- horse and hattock (Interjection) An incantation used in witchcraft in order to fly.
- love polygon (Noun) A situation in which at least two people vie for the love of another individual.
- love quadrangle (Noun) A situation in which three people vie for the love of a fourth person.
- love rectangle (Noun) Synonym of love quadrangle
- love triangle (Noun) A situation in which two suitors vie or compete for the love of the same person.
- magic carpet (Noun) A carpet capable either of magical flight, or instantaneous transport from one place to another, used as a means of travel.
- magic carpet (Noun) A conveyor belt to transport skiers/snowboarders.
- magic wand (Noun) A wand, usually made of wood, that is used to perform magic.
- meet cute (Noun) A situation in a film, television series, etc., in which a potential romantic couple meet for the first time in a way that is considered adorable, amusing, or cute.
- once upon a time (Adverb) A long time ago; at some time in the past (a traditional beginning of children's stories, especially fairy tales).
- open sesame (Phrase) open up (especially referring to doors)
- pay-off (Noun) A payment in full; the state of having been paid in full.
- pay-off (Noun) A return on investment.
- pay-off (Noun) A resolution or justification of an event that has already occurred, especially in fiction.
- pay-off (Noun) Short for payoff pitch.
- phlebotinum (Noun) A fictional material used by authors to develop a plot requiring a material with properties not possessed by any real material.
- plot coupon (Noun) An object sought by a character in a story in order to achieve some objective, having little purpose beyond advancing the plot.
- plot device (Noun) An element introduced into a story, film, etc. to advance its plot.
- presto change-o (Interjection) Alternative form of presto chango
- quest (Noun) A journey or effort in pursuit of a goal (often lengthy, ambitious, or fervent); a mission.; A task that a player may complete in order to gain a reward.
- red herring (Noun) A red herring prospectus.
- reset button (Noun) A plot device that interrupts continuity in works of fiction, by returning characters and situations to the status quo they held before certain changes were introduced.
- retcon (Noun) A situation, in a soap opera or other fiction, in which a new storyline explains or changes a previous event or attaches a new significance to it.
- shazaam (Interjection) Alternative spelling of shazam
- shoulder angel (Noun) An angel representing a person's conscience in works of fiction, portrayed as sitting on one shoulder while a shoulder devil occupies the other.
- shoulder devil (Noun) A devil representing a person's temptations in works of fiction, portrayed as sitting on one shoulder while a shoulder angel occupies the other.
- time bomb (Noun) A bomb that has a mechanism such that detonation can be preset to a particular time.
- time bomb (Noun) A malicious program designed to perform a destructive action at a certain date and/or time.
- time bomb (Noun) A situation that threatens to have disastrous consequences at some future time.
- tragic flaw (Noun) A personality trait or other characteristic of a real or fictional individual which is immoral, destructive, or otherwise faulty and which leads to the ruin or profound suffering of that individual.
- unobtainium (Noun) A fictional material or component which, if it existed, would enable one to easily solve a hard problem.
Download JSON data for these senses (261.0kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce).
The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.