urban legend

noun

: an often lurid story or anecdote that is based on hearsay and widely circulated as true
the urban legend of alligators living in the sewers

called also urban myth

Examples of urban legend in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The film — about a white graduate student researching an urban legend about a Black son of a slave who was lynched for falling in love with a white woman — offers complex questions for viewers to ponder. EW.com, 17 Oct. 2024 The story was a fabrication and was soon debunked, but has now been revitalized on TikTok (the urban legend was seemingly inspired by a similar scene from Mean Girls). Dani Di Placido, Forbes, 8 Oct. 2024 One of them is The Curve, also known as Dead Man's Curve, a thriller from 1998 inspired by the urban legend that a student will receive an A letter grade should their roommate die tragically. Simon Thompson, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2024 What to know about the Louisville urban legend Where did the Pope Lick Monster come from? Leo Bertucci, The Courier-Journal, 28 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for urban legend 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'urban legend.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1968, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of urban legend was in 1968

Dictionary Entries Near urban legend

Cite this Entry

“Urban legend.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/urban%20legend. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

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