1
: traditional customs, tales, sayings, dances, or art forms preserved among a people
The coyote appears in much of Native American folklore.
Paul Bunyan is a figure from folklore.
2
: a branch of knowledge that deals with folklore
a specialist in folklore
3
: an often unsupported notion, story, or saying that is widely circulated
the folklore about the health risks of computers
Examples of folklore in a Sentence
The coyote appears in a great deal of Native American folklore.
the rich folklore of Louisiana
He can't tell the difference between fact and folklore.
Recent Examples on the Web
Combining centuries-old Jewish folklore with the then-new medium of cinema, Paul Wegener and Carl Boese’s pioneering horror film draws its inspiration from a legend about a life-sized clay figure — a golem — that came to life to protect the Jews of Prague.
—
Katie Rife, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025
Different ethnic groups have made their home in the state, bringing with them their own traditions and folklore.
—Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 30 Oct. 2025
For Mateus, as for filmmakers in her personal pantheon, conflicts at hand stem inextricably from local and national history and also from oceanic depths of experience, too easily dismissed as folklore, from which individual identity and group identification emerge.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2025
Aaron Sagers is a travel and entertainment journalist/author with a special focus on folklore and the paranormal.
—Aaron Sagers, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for folklore
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Katie Rife, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025
Different ethnic groups have made their home in the state, bringing with them their own traditions and folklore.
—Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 30 Oct. 2025
For Mateus, as for filmmakers in her personal pantheon, conflicts at hand stem inextricably from local and national history and also from oceanic depths of experience, too easily dismissed as folklore, from which individual identity and group identification emerge.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2025
Aaron Sagers is a travel and entertainment journalist/author with a special focus on folklore and the paranormal.
—Aaron Sagers, CNN Money, 30 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for folklore
Cite this Entry
“Folklore.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/folklore. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
folklore
noun
folk·lore
ˈfōk-ˌlō(ə)r 
-ˌlȯ(ə)r
: customs, beliefs, stories, and sayings of a people handed down from generation to generation
folkloric
adjective
-ˌlȯr-ik
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