More loosely, we can treat this term like an adjective and talk about a deus ex machina fix, ending, solution, or resolution. You might talk about hoping for a deus ex machina, counting on or depending on a deus ex machina, expecting someone or something to be the deus ex machina, introducing a deus ex machina, relying on a deus ex machina, using someone or something as a deus ex machina, accepting that there will never be a deus ex machina for your issue, etc.Īnd you can say that someone or something is like a deus ex machina or actually is (or is not) the deus ex machina that accomplishes something: 'Like a deus ex machina, his stern glance ended the fight.' 'Civility would never be the deus ex machina to resolve their differences.' Talk about a deus ex machina, the deus ex machina, this deus ex machina, that deus ex machina, the story's deus ex machina, the problem or situation's deus ex machina, etc.

(We talk about a deus ex machina in both real life and fiction-stories, books, shows, movies, plays.) You often say this term with a bit of a sneer, because it's lazy to end your story with a deus ex machina, and because in real life it's unrealistic to expect a deus ex machina. We use 'deus ex machina' as an adjective, too. Likewise, talk about one deus ex machina, a deus ex machina, or the deus ex machina, but we don't use the plural.) You talk about 'a bottle,' 'three pieces,' and 'many decisions.' (Countable nouns, like 'bottle,' 'piece,' and 'decision,' are words for things that can be broken into exact units. This is a Latin translation of the Greek for 'a god from the machine,' and it's a reference to how Greek plays ended with a god being lowered from above onto the stage below. A deus ex machina is a person or thing that suddenly shows up at just the right time and completely fixes the problem. Could you explain what nostrums and panaceas are, and how they're ever-so-slightly different from each other? make your point with. It's a deus ex machina-a god from a machine, or a swift, complete, almost magical resolution of a complex problem.īut how often does that happen? Never? So let's group deus ex machina along with nostrum and panacea, other words we'll often use hypothetically and in the negative. Your problems are complex and numerous, but suddenly something appears, like a god being lowered onto a stage, to provide the perfect solution to all those problems.

Define deus ex machina