Definition of TRILOGY

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Dozens of tragic trilogies were written for the Greek stage, though only one, Aeschylus's great Oresteia (consisting of Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, *and *The Eumenides), has survived complete. Authors in later years have occasionally chosen to create trilogies to allow themselves to develop a highly complex story or cover a long span of time. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings wasn't actually intended as a trilogy, but since it was published in three volumes it's usually called one. George Lucas's three original Star Wars movies are an example of a film trilogy (which he followed many years later by another).

Examples of trilogy in a Sentence

the last book in the trilogy

Recent Examples on the Web Chernin and Disney/Fox have a Fear Street trilogy in postproduction, with the first movie due out in June of this year. — Mia Galuppo, The Hollywood Reporter, "Chernin Entertainment Exits Longtime 20th Century Fox Pact," 17 Jan. 2020 Star Wars‘s Millennium Falcon rose from the dust for a new trilogy. — People Staff, PEOPLE.com, "PEOPLE Picks the 20 Most Memorable Pop Culture Moments of the Decade," 31 Dec. 2019 The two bantamweights are coming off a stirring trilogy — all in a 10-month span — in which two of the three fights were declared a draw, with the other going to Franco by split decision. — ExpressNews.com, "Joshua Franco, Hector Tanajara eye San Antonio boxing debuts," 27 Dec. 2019 The new film, directed by J.J. Abrams, had to navigate tricky waters, pleasing legions of Star Wars fans while also delivering a conclusion to the current trilogy of pictures. — Fortune, "Newest Star Wars Film Produces Another Box Office Hit for Disney," 23 Dec. 2019 That sizable haul was down from the previous two films in the long-running franchise’s latest trilogy. — Jason Karaian, Quartz, "“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” is turning middling reviews into massive money," 23 Dec. 2019 Rise of Skywalker culminated a tumultuous period in Star Wars, finishing off both a trilogy and nine-film cycle begun 42 years ago by George Lucas. — Time, "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Opens With Underwhelming $175 Million, Cats Flops," 22 Dec. 2019 Roth authored the mega-popular young adult Divergent trilogy, which sold more than 32 million copies worldwide and was adapted into two films. — Jeva Lange, TheWeek, "19 books to read in 2020," 7 Jan. 2020 Photo Credit: David Appleby Egerton graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts in acting, and three years later was offered the lead in the Kingsman trilogy alongside Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, and Michael Caine. — Bianca Rodriguez, Marie Claire, "Taron Egerton, the Star of 'Rocketman,' Is Nominated for His First Golden Globe," 5 Jan. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'trilogy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.