origin story

American

[awr-i-jin stawr-ee, or-i-jin] / ˈɔr ɪ dʒɪn ˌstɔr i, ˈɒr ɪ dʒɪn /

noun

a backstory, or established background narrative, that informs the identity and motivations of heroes and villains in a comic book or similar fictional work.

The superhero’s origin story begins with a tragic accident that left him scarred, but also resulted in his supernatural powers.

Etymology

Origin of origin story

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” pivots the novel toward fantastical anachronism and open-hearted femininity, while del Toro’s “Frankenstein” is a dour, dark spin that blunts the sentimentality of Mary Shelley’s book for an adaptation that plays more like a superhero origin story.

From Salon

DePetro launched into his origin story with me: He initially built a following on Facebook and TikTok by filming the unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd.

From Slate

There might even be a case to be made that Emily Brontë herself found yearning preferable to a flesh-and-blood love; it’s definitely one reason why many Brontë fans were salty that 2022’s fictionalized biopic “Emily” retconned the origin story so that Brontë herself had an obsessive love affair.

From Salon

“In the printed legend of American history, guns and freedom have become synonymous,” Ellis writes, but it was a new legend — stoked in part by “Bonnie and Clyde” — not America’s origin story.

From Los Angeles Times

Violinist Philip Setzer offers the origin story, circa 1976: Going to return some library books before heading home from Juilliard for the summer, he ran into fellow violin student Eugene Drucker, who asked him if he’d like to be in a quartet.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023