plot thickens, the

Idioms  

1. Circumstances are becoming very complex or mysterious. Today this term is often used ironically or half-humorously, as in His companion wasn't his wife or his partner—the plot thickens. Originally (1671) it described the plot of a play that was overly intricate, and by the late 1800s it was used for increasingly complex mysteries in detective stories.

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Example Sentences

The plot thickens, the passions are displayed, and the tragedy hastens to its end.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 04, No. 22, August, 1859 by Various