trifecta

English

WOTD – 10 May 2007

Etymology

From tri- +‎ (per)fecta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɹaɪˈfɛktə/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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Noun

trifecta (plural trifectas) (US, Australia, New Zealand)

1. (gambling) A bet in which the bettor must select the first three placegetters of a race in the order in which they finish.
   • 2006, Vincent Conti, Thoroughbred Horse Racing Systems and Methodologies, page 9:

     The conservative player will play the exacta box bet and the occasional trifecta box wager.

   • 2010, Leonard A. Asimow, Mark M. Maxwell, Probability and Statistics with Applications: A Problem Solving Text, page 10:

     In a trifecta, you must wager on three horses: the one that finishes first (win), the one that finishes second (place), and the one that finishes third (show) in order.

2. (figurative) The attainment of three important achievements, qualities, etc.
   • 2012 February 8, Jackie Koszczuk, “Santorum Is Still Losing the Most Important Race: Money”, in The Atlantic‎^[1]:

     The money picture for Santorum could change after his trifecta win in Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri Tuesday night.

   • 2024 May 7, Peter Baker, “Inside the White House Scramble to Broker a Deal in Gaza”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:

     At the same time, he said, it could be that Mr. Netanyahu is “seeking a trifecta” with the strikes on Monday: pushing Hamas to give in, showing the Israeli public that he did hit Rafah as promised and getting credit from the Biden administration for not mounting the full-scale assault that Washington fears would result in a civilian catastrophe.

3. (by extension) A set of three related things, often things that cause problems.
   • 2007, Michael Morrison, Head First JavaScript, page 525:

     Along with runtime errors, two other errors we saw earlier round out the JavaScript bug trifecta: syntax errors, logic errors, and runtime errors.

   • 2013 November 27, Emily Jane O'Dell, “Deep cover”, in The New York Times‎^[3]:

     I might never have learned my name or met my birth family if I hadn't ended up in the hospital in Rhode Island in 2007, after traveling to a trifecta of malaria hotspots: Mali, Egypt and Colombia.

   • 2024 March 10, Fran Hoepfner, “What Billy Crystal Knew About Hosting the Oscars”, in The Atlantic‎^[4]:

     And the Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes, and Regina Hall trifecta stumbled through inconsistent chemistry as they, too, attempted to insult their peers.

4. (US politics) The complete legislative and executive control of state or federal government by one party: governorship, the upper house, and the lower house of state or federal legislatures.
   • 2013 June 26, Steven Hill, “So the Voting Rights Act Is Gutted—What Can Protect Minority Voters Now?”, in The Atlantic‎^[5]:

     In fact, there are about a dozen states, including California, Massachusetts, Washington, and Illinois, where Democrats have won the trifecta—they control the governor's seat as well as both houses of the state legislature.

   • 2023 December 12, Jamelle Bouie, “Red States and Blue States Are Becoming Different Countries”, in The New York Times‎^[6], →ISSN:

     It’s not just Florida, of course. Republican trifectas in states across the country have introduced and passed dozens of bills aimed at the public existence of trans and other gender-nonconforming people.

Related terms

• perfecta
• superfecta
• quadfecta

Translations

bet on the first three places of a race in the order

• Finnish: troikka (fi)
• French: tiercé (fr) m
• German: Dreierwette (de) f
• Italian: tris (it) m
• Spanish: trifecta f (Arg., Chile)

control by one party of the federal or state government

• Finnish: trifekta

See also

• exacta

Spanish

Noun

trifecta f (plural trifectas)

1. trifecta

Further reading

• “trifecta”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10