: a characteristically anonymous, timeless, and placeless tale circulated orally among a people
Examples of folktale in a Sentence
West African folktales that continue to be passed from generation to generation through storytelling.
Recent Examples on the Web
Common fantasy races such as trolls, dwarfs, elves and ogres were originally inspired by the folktales of Europe (and are usually far removed from their original forms), but orcs are an original creation from Tolkien.
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Dani Di Placido, Forbes.com, 7 July 2025
The movie opens like an old folktale, and that tone pervades the rest of the narrative.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Feb. 2025
It’s based on a Mexican folktale and presented mostly in Spanish, although it can be enjoyed by non-Spanish speakers too, Feldman said.
—Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2025
Kingston’s book, a radical scrambling of folktale, myth, and autobiography, is largely fiction but was initially received as a straightforward memoir—exactly the kind of stereotypical immigrant story Kingston had tried to avoid.
—Jane Hu, The New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2025
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Dani Di Placido, Forbes.com, 7 July 2025
The movie opens like an old folktale, and that tone pervades the rest of the narrative.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Feb. 2025
It’s based on a Mexican folktale and presented mostly in Spanish, although it can be enjoyed by non-Spanish speakers too, Feldman said.
—Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2025
Kingston’s book, a radical scrambling of folktale, myth, and autobiography, is largely fiction but was initially received as a straightforward memoir—exactly the kind of stereotypical immigrant story Kingston had tried to avoid.
—Jane Hu, The New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for folktale
Cite this Entry
“Folktale.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/folktale. Accessed 1 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
folktale
noun
folk·tale
-ˌtāl 
: a story made up and handed down by the common people
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