prequel

[ pree-kwuhl ]

noun

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

prequel

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of prequel¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of prequel¹

C20: from pre- + ( se ) quel

Example Sentences

Tony Soprano, one of the greatest characters in TV history, gets an origin story in this prequel to The Sopranos on HBO Max.

From Time

As with the recently released antiheroic prequel “Cruella” — whose director, Craig Gillespie, helmed the pilot — self-actualization means letting oneself embrace one’s darker impulses.

From Washington Post

It’s a prequel to “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” the classic 1975 film.

From Washington Blade

NBC’s prematurely canceled cult favorite Hannibal, which ran for three seasons beginning in 2013, was a Silence prequel updated to the 21st century.

From Time

As I learned in the prequel, “A Zoo in My Luggage,” the British naturalist was building a zoo on Jersey, in the Channel Islands, and needed residents.

From Washington Post

Only one other Star Wars film has earned a PG-13 rating, the 2005 prequel Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

From The Daily Beast

But David Simon said, ‘It can’t be a sequel, it has to be a prequel.

From The Daily Beast

But we could see him pop up in the Breaking Bad prequel/spin-off Better Call Saul.

From The Daily Beast

What did you think of that hilarious Internet theory that Breaking Bad was an elaborate prequel to Malcolm in the Middle?

From The Daily Beast

This lawsuit is like a horrible sequel—or possibly a prequel, depending on timing—to the upcoming Benghazi hearings.

From The Daily Beast