deus ex machina

American  

[dey-uhs eks mah-kuh-nuh, dee-uhs eks mak-uh-nuh] / ˈdeɪ əs ɛks ˈmɑ kə nə, ˈdi əs ɛks ˈmæk ə nə /

noun

1. (in ancient Greek and Roman drama) a god introduced into a play to resolve the entanglements of the plot.

2. any artificial or improbable device resolving the difficulties of a plot.

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deus ex machina British  

/ ˈdeɪʊs ɛks ˈmækɪnə /

noun

1. (in ancient Greek and Roman drama) a god introduced into a play to resolve the plot

2. any unlikely or artificial device serving this purpose

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Etymology

Origin of deus ex machina

1690–1700; < New Latin literally, god from a machine (i.e., stage machinery from which a deity's statue was lowered), as translation of Greek apò mēchanês theós (Demosthenes), theòs ek mēchanês (Menander), etc.

Example Sentences

A kind of deus ex machina, he pops into the novel at key points, offering incredible amounts of money like a possibly sinister fairy godmother in a Brothers Grimm tale.

From Seattle Times • May 15, 2024

With truth under assault and accountability seemingly non-existent, a billion-dollar bullhorn sharing micro-targeted messages on multiple platforms may not be an ideal deus ex machina, but it is the one our info-siloed public square demands.

From Salon • Apr. 6, 2024

In Going Infinite, Lewis portrays Bankman-Fried’s miraculous resurrection via FTX as a kind of deus ex machina.

From Slate • Oct. 5, 2023

When Seven and Raffi figure out a way to transport assimilated crew members off the bridge using phaser rifles, it’s quite the deus ex machina.

From New York Times • Apr. 20, 2023

The happy end brought about by a divinity, the deus ex machina, is a common device with Euripides alone of the three tragic poets.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton