: a work (such as a novel or a play) whose story precedes that of an earlier work
… the real payoff will be for the next Star Wars, an expected prequel to the previous three movies.—
Laurence Hooper
Laurence HooperExamples of prequel in a Sentence
His next film will be a prequel to last year's hit movie.
Recent Examples on the Web
The film spawned a prequel, Monsters University, in 2013, which saw Mike and Sully meet for the first time in college.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Mar. 2026
The fever dream of a sequel that’s also a prequel takes everything good about the first movie and turns it up to 100, happily ignoring any dose of realism in favor of silly, colorful, karaoke-ready fun.
—Rachel Simon, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2026
MacFarlane voices the hedonistic, anthropomorphic teddy bear in the series that serves as a prequel to Universal’s 2012 comedy film of the same name and its 2015 sequel.
—Ryan Gajewski, HollywoodReporter, 6 Mar. 2026
The series is a prequel to MacFarlane’s feature comedies Ted (2012) and Ted 2 (2015), which starred Mark Wahlberg as John.
—Glenn Garner, Deadline, 6 Mar. 2026
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Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Mar. 2026
The fever dream of a sequel that’s also a prequel takes everything good about the first movie and turns it up to 100, happily ignoring any dose of realism in favor of silly, colorful, karaoke-ready fun.
—Rachel Simon, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2026
MacFarlane voices the hedonistic, anthropomorphic teddy bear in the series that serves as a prequel to Universal’s 2012 comedy film of the same name and its 2015 sequel.
—Ryan Gajewski, HollywoodReporter, 6 Mar. 2026
The series is a prequel to MacFarlane’s feature comedies Ted (2012) and Ted 2 (2015), which starred Mark Wahlberg as John.
—Glenn Garner, Deadline, 6 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for prequel
Cite this Entry
“Prequel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prequel. Accessed 13 Mar. 2026.
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