in medias res
/ɪn ˌmiːdiəs ˈɹeɪz/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.61 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
5
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adv
adj
Beginning in the middle of its storyline: said of a work of literature or a film.
Example Sentences
- "This novel begins in medias res."
- "As in a good epic, Ulysses begins in medias res and fills us in on Stephen's life since the end of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by flashback; and by the flashback of memory we are given the story of Molly's and Bloom's lives."
- "Homer begins in medias res. Then, well into the poem, he takes us back to tell us about the events that make up the beginning of the story. The Odyssey, for example, begins in the tenth year of Odysseus's wanderings; […]"
- "Although not strictly in medias res, the film uses flashbacks extensively."
- "Anyway, the characters have been introduced but by no means established. I know Final Fantasy’s always been big on in medias res, but even the most basic questions about the plot remain unanswered. Who the fuck are these people? What is going on? Why should I care? Can I stop playing now? Please?"
Etymology
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: in mediās rēs