deus ex machina

noun

de·​us ex ma·​chi·​na ˈdā-əs-ˌeks-ˈmä-ki-nə  -ˈma- 

-ˌnä;

-mə-ˈshē-nə

1

: a god introduced by means of a crane (see crane entry 1 sense 3a) in ancient Greek and Roman drama to decide the final outcome

2

: a person or thing (as in fiction or drama) that appears or is introduced suddenly and unexpectedly and provides a contrived solution to an apparently insoluble difficulty

… the shipwreck, far from being a tragic peripety, is the deus ex machina which makes it possible for Defoe to present solitary labour … as a solution to the perplexities of economic and social reality.

—Ian Watt

Did you know?

The New Latin term deus ex machina is a translation of a Greek phrase and means literally "a god from a machine." Machine, in this case, refers to the crane (yes, crane) that held a god over the stage in ancient Greek and Roman drama. The practice of introducing a god at the end of a play to unravel and resolve the plot dates from at least the 5th century B.C.; Euripides (circa 484-406 B.C.) was one playwright who made frequent use of the device. Since the late 1600s, deus ex machina has been applied in English to unlikely saviors and improbable events in fiction or drama that bring order out of chaos in sudden and surprising ways.

Examples of deus ex machina in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That obituary probably would have been published in 2015 if not for a deus ex machina named Vladimir Putin. —Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 6 Feb. 2026

In this sense, the good middle class white man (with dogs) is the saving deus ex machina. —Literary Hub, 3 Feb. 2026

Each year is a new show, but the final scene is always the same: a Chinese city on the edge of destruction until the deus ex machina – a mystical being resembling Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi – descends from the heavens to save the world. —Lisa Ling, CBS News, 25 Jan. 2026

There’s a lot of deus ex machina resolution of tight binds, things that happen off-screen and are waved away. —Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, a god from a machine, translation of Greek theos ek mēchanēs

First Known Use

1697, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for deus ex machina

• acarina
• ballerina
• casuarina
• celestina
• concertina
• filipina
• foramina
• leucaena
• littorina
• scarlatina
• semolina
• serotina

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