subplot

American

[suhb-plot] / ˈsʌbˌplɒt /

noun

a secondary or subordinate plot, as in a play, novel, or other literary work; underplot.

subplot British

/ ˈsʌbˌplɒt /

noun

a subordinate or auxiliary plot in a novel, play, film, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of subplot

First recorded in 1915–20; sub- + plot

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.

Season 4, however, has turned the salmon from a background indulgence into a full-blown subplot.

From Salon

Especially for Jay, whose subplot concerns his desire for a musical career apart from this partnership, and includes him covertly planning to perform at an open-mic event in far-off Ottawa.

From The Wall Street Journal

That bloody chapter in Colombian history provided a factual basis for a subplot in “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” an epic novel by Gabriel García Márquez, who won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1982.

From Salon

Safdie even concocts a subplot in which he invents his signature orange ball solely so he can wear all-white like the posh jocks of Wimbledon.

From Los Angeles Times

Buried within Warner Bros Discovery is TNT Sports, which provides an intriguing subplot in an acrimonious battle for some of the world's top TV shows and movies.

From BBC

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