1
as in story
a rumor or report of a personal or sensational nature
don't believe the tales you hear about our neighbor's kid
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2
as in anecdote
a brief account of something interesting that happened especially to one personally
asked Dad to tell once again the tale of how, as a kid, he broke his arm jumping out of a tree
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3
as in lie
a statement known by its maker to be untrue and made in order to deceive
told tall tales in an attempt to impress me with her supposedly upper-crust background
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in novella
a work with imaginary characters and events that is shorter and usually less complex than a novel
the oft-told tale of Sleeping Beauty
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of tale
Those that don’t risk becoming cautionary tales in an industry where trust and precision are nonnegotiable.
—
Amber Nigam, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2025
Billed as a true-life addiction tale, Leon wrote the screenplay and also stars and co-directs with Gooch.
—Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 6 Mar. 2025
The 50-year-old entertainer then went on to compare the battle to the biblical tale of David vs. Goliath, framing it as a way that sees Kendrick Lamar as the underdog against pop’s darling.
—Marc Griffin, VIBE.com, 6 Mar. 2025
The book selection focuses primarily on black stories and authors, offering everything from children’s books to classic novels and modern tales.
—Jennifer Prince, Southern Living, 6 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tale
Amber Nigam, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2025
Billed as a true-life addiction tale, Leon wrote the screenplay and also stars and co-directs with Gooch.
—Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 6 Mar. 2025
The 50-year-old entertainer then went on to compare the battle to the biblical tale of David vs. Goliath, framing it as a way that sees Kendrick Lamar as the underdog against pop’s darling.
—Marc Griffin, VIBE.com, 6 Mar. 2025
The book selection focuses primarily on black stories and authors, offering everything from children’s books to classic novels and modern tales.
—Jennifer Prince, Southern Living, 6 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tale
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tale
Noun
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Forbes Daily: Join over 1 million Forbes Daily subscribers and get our best stories, exclusive reporting and essential analysis of the day’s news in your inbox every weekday.—
Chris Malone Mendez,
Forbes,
8 Mar. 2025
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Both episodes owe a big spiritual debt to Lost, which also liked to toggle back and forth between the main island story, its characters’ former lives, and all its weird mythology.—
Alan Sepinwall,
Rolling Stone,
7 Mar. 2025
Noun
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With overtime, the opportunity for avoidance lies in worker classification.—
Shahar Ziv,
Forbes,
5 Mar. 2025
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If fiction is the crafting of lies, why are writers always being asked about the truth?—
Abubakar Adam Ibrahim,
The Dial,
4 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Additional books in the immensely popular series include A Court of Mist and Fury, A Court of Wings and Ruin, the novella A Court of Frost and Starlight and A Court of Silver Flames.—
Keisha Hatchett,
TVLine,
14 Feb. 2025
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The novella draws inspiration from all-time classic Bringing Up Baby, which puts paleontologist David Huxley (Cary Grant) in the path of wacky heiress Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn) and her pet leopard, Baby.—
Maureen Lee Lenker,
People.com,
10 Feb. 2025
Noun
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In 2002, Sigmon was found guilty of two counts of murder and one count of burglary.—
William Lambers,
Newsweek,
8 Mar. 2025
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Luis Ramirez, a 23-year-old man from Utah, was charged with one count of making a terroristic threat as a hate crime and another count of making a terroristic threat, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office said, per The Times of Israel.—
Charna Flam,
People.com,
7 Mar. 2025
Noun
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There’s a whisper of floral elegance, balanced with earthy depth, giving it a versatile and refined character.—
Jillian Dara,
Forbes,
5 Mar. 2025
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After ten years of whispers, gossip, and speculation, the women finally start to open up about what has been painfully obvious to any faithful watcher of this show: Karen has been struggling with an alcohol problem that has recently gotten out of control.—
Shamira Ibrahim,
Vulture,
3 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Brad Pitt, 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' (2020) In Quentin Tarantino’s alt-history fable, Pitt plays a steely stunt double equally adept at fixing TV antennas or dealing with the Manson Family, all with a grin on his weathered face.—
Brian Truitt,
USA TODAY,
28 Feb. 2025
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Its surrealistic elements blend with realistic properties and a unique video-game-like computer animation to create something remarkable: a cautious environmental fable and a testament to the power of working together to achieve a common goal.—
Barry Levitt,
Vulture,
14 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Speaking of disastrous events, The Monkey added $6.3 million to its $24.6 million domestic tally ($38.2 million globally).—
Shania Russell,
EW.com,
3 Mar. 2025
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The track quickly became a standout for the band, hitting No. 9 on the Hot 100 and similarly performing well on some of Billboard’s more specific tallies.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes,
3 Mar. 2025
Noun
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But the score would only stay that close for about 34 seconds the rest of the game.—
Scott Chasen,
Kansas City Star,
9 Mar. 2025
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Neither team could find the winning score in that minute and the game went to overtime.—
Thomas Schlachter,
CNN,
9 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tale.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tale. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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