Orde Coombs 
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Myth and Urban Myth
For a word so often applied to events or stories from long, long ago, myth has a remarkably recent history in the English language. The earliest evidence for the word is from 1830, well after the time when the events themselves are thought to have occurred (though it should be noted that the related words mythology and mythic are hundreds of years older – still not as old as Achilles, but not young, either!). One application of myth, however – in the phrase urban myth – is quite new. Curiously, an urban myth does not usually have anything to do with the city: it is simply “a story about an unusual event or occurrence that many people believe is true but that is not true.” An example would be the tale that Elvis Presley is still alive after spending decades in a witness protection program. The phrase urban myth has been used to describe such hoaxes since at least 1971.
Examples of myth in a Sentence
Jeanette Marantos, Los Angeles Times, 28 June 2025
Ursula Lindsey The Moroccan writer’s works are a bracing corrective to the myth of his city as a glamorous, bohemian playground.
—Sophia Rosenfeld, The New York Review of Books, 26 June 2025
Beyond the myth, reality appears to be more complex.
—Ombline Damy, JSTOR Daily, 26 June 2025
The man, the myth, the Netflix legend is back and more flirty than ever.
—Allison Degrushe Published, EW.com, 26 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for myth
Cite this Entry
“Myth.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myth. Accessed 7 Jul. 2025.
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myth
noun
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