prequel

American  

[pree-kwuhl] / ˈpri kwəl /

noun

prequels plural

1. a literary, dramatic, or filmic work that prefigures a later work, as by portraying the same characters at a younger age.

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prequel British  

/ ˈpriːkwəl /

noun

1. a film or book about an earlier stage of a story or a character's life, released because the later part of it has already been successful

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• prequels
  plural

Etymology

Origin of prequel

First recorded in 1970–75; pre- + (se)quel

Explanation

A prequel is an installment in a series of books or movies which describes action that occurred in the past, before the original. Monsters University, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace are famous film prequels. The word prequel is most often used for movies, along with sequel, the follow-up to the initial story. Filmmakers sometimes like to fill in background information with a prequel, though fans often complain that prequels don't live up to the original (think of the original Star Wars films and their prequels, for example). The earliest known use of prequel described a 1958 installment of a science fiction story, and the word was common by the 1970s.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

prequel prequels

The other contenders for best drama include Keri Russell's political soap opera "The Diplomat," spy series "Slow Horses" and "Game of Thrones" prequel "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms."

From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026

"Elle seems more like a parody than a true prequel," she wrote, adding that the series "has heart and humour, but that's not enough".

From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026

Starring charismatic newcomer Lexi Minetree, this formulaic prequel follows the blond protagonist as a high school student.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

The “Game of Thrones” prequel boasts many dragons, most of them bound to the Targaryen royal bloodline.

From Salon ● Jun. 24, 2026

Sarnoski is a promising talent with two previous features on his resume: “Pig,” a feral $3-million thriller starring Nicolas Cage, and “A Quiet Place: Day One,” a smart franchise prequel.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026

In an exceptional level of productivity, Sheridan received sole writing credit on almost every episode of “Yellowstone,” plus its two prequels “1883” and “1923.”

From MarketWatch ● May 5, 2026

The path these men blazed led to the endless sequels and prequels, remakes and reboots, churned out by the corporate-owned, IP-obsessed studios of the 2020s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026

There have been sequels, prequels and freakquels, and less than a handful of them have come anywhere close to decent.

From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2025

They’re running pretty thin these days, down to rebooting reboots, making sequels for prequels and squeezing every ounce from the intellectual property tube to fill out streaming platform minutes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2025

“You haven’t seen the prequels or the original trilogy? The podrace? Young Luke? This is a travesty. We have to fix that.”

From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed