Scheherazade
noun
Sche·her·a·zade
shə-ˌher-ə-ˈzäd 
-ˈzä-də,
-dē
: the fictional wife of a sultan and the narrator of the tales in the Arabian Nights' Entertainments
Examples of Scheherazade in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Like Scheherazade telling stories to save her own life, the pigtailed scuba diver must convince the shark that there are better things to eat than herself.
—
Elise Broach, New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2026
Concertmaster Erin Keefe’s violin playing acted as the voice of Scheherazade in the work, weaving a tale with life-or-death urgency.
—Sheila Regan, Twin Cities, 28 Mar. 2026
Elsewhere, wispier chiffons in a palette of sand and gem tones will add to the feeling of Scheherazade.
—Ari Stark, Footwear News, 11 Feb. 2026
Hers is a disquieting book, awash in Jenny Holzer-like slogans, memories of a strict evangelical childhood, stories jigsawed together and sudden, breathtaking insights, all framed by the myth of Shahrazad (known in the West as Scheherazade).
—Dan Sheehan, Literary Hub, 22 Jan. 2026
Moving from interrogations of Scheherazade’s myth to reflections of family lineage and to the frustrations of conceiving with a surrogate, Alyan charts the complications of building a life in the midst of personal transformation.
—Emma Alpern, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
In Spanish, my grandmother read tales from Las Mil y Una Noches—in English, The Thousand and One Nights—bringing the world beyond Leigh Street, Scheherazade's magical world of Central Asian pluck, heroism and ingenuity, into the life of my mother and her siblings.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 May 2025
The shambolic nature of his plots has a Scheherazade flavor, a storyteller unfurling a tale bit by bit with no aim other than keeping the reader invested moment-to-moment, failure being the penalty of death.
—John Warner, Chicago Tribune, 22 Feb. 2025
The author of One Thousand and One Nights placed Scheherazade to tell her tales and Aladdin to find his magic lamp in the Uzbek city of Samarkand.
—Daphne Beal, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 Nov. 2017
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.
Elise Broach, New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2026
Concertmaster Erin Keefe’s violin playing acted as the voice of Scheherazade in the work, weaving a tale with life-or-death urgency.
—Sheila Regan, Twin Cities, 28 Mar. 2026
Elsewhere, wispier chiffons in a palette of sand and gem tones will add to the feeling of Scheherazade.
—Ari Stark, Footwear News, 11 Feb. 2026
Hers is a disquieting book, awash in Jenny Holzer-like slogans, memories of a strict evangelical childhood, stories jigsawed together and sudden, breathtaking insights, all framed by the myth of Shahrazad (known in the West as Scheherazade).
—Dan Sheehan, Literary Hub, 22 Jan. 2026
Moving from interrogations of Scheherazade’s myth to reflections of family lineage and to the frustrations of conceiving with a surrogate, Alyan charts the complications of building a life in the midst of personal transformation.
—Emma Alpern, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
In Spanish, my grandmother read tales from Las Mil y Una Noches—in English, The Thousand and One Nights—bringing the world beyond Leigh Street, Scheherazade's magical world of Central Asian pluck, heroism and ingenuity, into the life of my mother and her siblings.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 May 2025
The shambolic nature of his plots has a Scheherazade flavor, a storyteller unfurling a tale bit by bit with no aim other than keeping the reader invested moment-to-moment, failure being the penalty of death.
—John Warner, Chicago Tribune, 22 Feb. 2025
The author of One Thousand and One Nights placed Scheherazade to tell her tales and Aladdin to find his magic lamp in the Uzbek city of Samarkand.
—Daphne Beal, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 Nov. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Scheherazade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Scheherazade. Accessed 25 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
