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
And with Çalhanoğlu carving his own legacy in northern Italy both on-and-off the field, his name may be etched in Italian folklore forever.
—
William Jones, USA Today, 3 Oct. 2025
But the Dash does have an outsized history that shifts it out of the realm of poetry and folklore alone.
—Leanna Renee Hieber, Big Think, 2 Oct. 2025
Shevchenko had to score to keep the shoot-out alive but his effort was tame and Dudek secured his place in Liverpool folklore.
—James Pearce, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2025
This building is like folklore for all the skaters in Brazil, who always imagine that one day somebody could skate on this.
—Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 26 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for folklore
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William Jones, USA Today, 3 Oct. 2025
But the Dash does have an outsized history that shifts it out of the realm of poetry and folklore alone.
—Leanna Renee Hieber, Big Think, 2 Oct. 2025
Shevchenko had to score to keep the shoot-out alive but his effort was tame and Dudek secured his place in Liverpool folklore.
—James Pearce, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2025
This building is like folklore for all the skaters in Brazil, who always imagine that one day somebody could skate on this.
—Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 26 Sep. 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 6 Oct. 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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