anecdote

noun an·ec·dote \ ˈa-nik-ˌdōt \

Updated on: 9 May 2018

Definition of anecdote

plural anecdotes also anecdota play \ˌa-nik-ˈdō-tə\

: a usually short narrative of an interesting, amusing, or biographical incident

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Examples of anecdote in a Sentence

Like many Jesuits who then ate most of their meals in refectories, McKenzie was a master raconteur with endless anecdotes, stories, and one-liners. —Margaret O'Brien Steinfels, Commonweal, 11 Sept. 2009
If Antony had won, of course, the story would have been very different. Indeed, despite the dominance of the Augustan version of events, a few hostile anecdotes about the young Octavian probably offer a glimpse of what Antony's side was saying. —Mary Beard, New York Review of Books, 12 Feb. 2009
Alexander's use of the family's private papers—the Waughs were prolific writers of letters and diaries as well as books—not only adds richly to the entertainment value of his account but also serves to illuminate just how tangled are the threads of filial love, hurt, awe, and competitiveness that run through their work. Although he ranges freely over two centuries of family anecdotes, amusing and appalling by turn, the dominant figure here is, as it should be, Evelyn. —Evelyn Toynton, Harper's, August 2007
Any competent science reporter knows anecdotes are not data and that one dramatic story proves nothing. —Editor & Publisher, 4 Nov. 2002
Deeply convinced of her own unattractiveness, frequently lonely and unimaginably needy, Joplin was a person who lived all over the page. It is impossible to read about her and not crave more anecdotes and personal details of such a wanton, tragic life. —Kim France, New York Times Book Review, 2 May 1999
He told us all sorts of humorous anecdotes about his childhood.
told us once again that anecdote about the dog and the bike

Recent Examples of anecdote from the Web

Sankar shared an anecdote about attending two different venture capital events: one that was mostly men, and one that was all women.

— elizabeth kiefer, Glamour, "Financial Sites For Women Are Game Changing—But Do They Have To Be So Pink?," 4 May 2018
The story's second half takes a sharp turn, starting with an anecdote about a young boy in a thatching family who fell off a roof and had to be cared for by 8-year-old Rose.

— bethanne patrick, latimes.com, "Michael Ondaatje's novel 'Warlight' is a masterpiece of shifting memory," 3 May 2018
Among his many interviewees: Steven Spielberg, who offers an anecdote about a pivotal moment from his South Jersey boyhood, and Philly’s own Will Smith. 10 p.m.

— ellen gray, Philly.com, "TV picks: 'Elementary,' 'American Idol,' 'The Goldbergs,' and more," 26 Apr. 2018
An anecdote about another Twitter user is a telling example of how people use others' hate to justify their own prejudices.

— marlena scott, Teen Vogue, "Sally Kohn's New Book Shares Lessons About "The Opposite of Hate"," 10 Apr. 2018
The problem of assessing quality of care goes beyond clinical aspects, with one participating employer sharing an anecdote about an employee whose initial appointment took place in a basement with a psychiatrist who wasn’t wearing shoes.

— suzanne f. delbanco, Fortune, "Commentary: Why Employers Need to Take Employees’ Mental Health Seriously," 8 Apr. 2018
Last month, Haddish shared an anecdote about Beyoncé shooing away a woman who touched Jay-Z’s chest during the same party.

— refinery29.com, "We Will Never Find Out Who Bit Beyoncé — Or Crack These Other Unsolved Beyoncé Mysteries," 28 Mar. 2018
Kevin Cooksley of Nebraska describes his current situation by offering an anecdote: In 1948, his grandfather could sell a yearling bull and use the money to buy a new pickup truck.

— christa case bryant, The Christian Science Monitor, "On tariffs, many farmers break sharply with Trump," 19 Mar. 2018
His own 9-foot-tall verre églomisé panels offer up more points of reflection—including of a video monitor playing Balanchine rehearsal footage, after an anecdote about how ballerinas often learn choreography by watching a tape through the mirror.

— laura regensdorf, Vogue, "A New Whitney Exhibition Examines the Proto-Queer World of Early Modernist Ballet," 16 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'anecdote.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

The Greek Smear Job at the Root of anecdote

The Byzantine official Procopius wrote three historical works in Greek. In the first two, he dealt with wars and public works projects, but the third was something of a departure from this kind of history. Referred to as "Anekdota," from the Greek a- meaning "not," and ekdidonai, meaning "to publish," it contained bitter attacks on the emperor Justinian, his wife, and other notables of contemporary Constantinople. Understandably, it was not published until after its writer's death. English speakers originally used an anglicized version of the book's name for similar secret or unpublished histories or biographies, and by the 17th century, the meaning of anecdote had been broadened to cover any interesting or amusing personal tale.

Origin and Etymology of anecdote

French, from Greek anekdota unpublished items, from neuter plural of anekdotos unpublished, from a- + ekdidonai to publish, from ex out + didonai to give — more at ex-, date

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First Known Use: circa 1721

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