: a characteristically anonymous, timeless, and placeless tale circulated orally among a people
Examples of folktale in a Sentence
West African folktales that continue to be passed from generation to generation through storytelling.
Recent Examples on the Web
Interspersed in the narrative, there are South Asian folktales about a jackal who is punished for pretending to be a king and a foolish man who puts all his eggs in a basket.
—
Malaka Gharib, NPR, 21 Mar. 2025
The movie opens like an old folktale, and that tone pervades the rest of the narrative.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Feb. 2025
A lot of the folktales referenced in Rabbit Trap are drawn from this one text from 1880, called British Goblins, from an American anthropologist called Wirt Sikes, who traveled through Wales, collected stories and sightings of goblins and fairies.
—Damon Wise, Deadline, 31 Jan. 2025
Her songs involve dark folktales, animal encounters, and bad uncles.
—Emma Alpern, Vulture, 28 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for folktale
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Malaka Gharib, NPR, 21 Mar. 2025
The movie opens like an old folktale, and that tone pervades the rest of the narrative.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Feb. 2025
A lot of the folktales referenced in Rabbit Trap are drawn from this one text from 1880, called British Goblins, from an American anthropologist called Wirt Sikes, who traveled through Wales, collected stories and sightings of goblins and fairies.
—Damon Wise, Deadline, 31 Jan. 2025
Her songs involve dark folktales, animal encounters, and bad uncles.
—Emma Alpern, Vulture, 28 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for folktale
Cite this Entry
“Folktale.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/folktale. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
folktale
noun
folk·tale
-ˌtāl 
: a story made up and handed down by the common people
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share