: 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
Oliver Park’s directorial debut is based on the Jewish folktale about the female demon Abyzou, which (believe it or not) happens to be perfect fodder for a horror film set at a Hasidic funeral home in Brooklyn.
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Emma Specter, Vogue, 19 Oct. 2025
Described as a gritty neo-noir folktale, the film is set in rural Missouri and turns on a young man who struggles to keep his family together in the midst of a tragedy.
—Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 15 Oct. 2025
Meanwhile, Freudians and evolutionary psychologists trawled folktales for evidence to shore up their theories.
—Manvir Singh, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
Later, the look became incorporated in folktales as the attire of grim reapers.
—Claire Wang, NBC news, 12 Oct. 2025
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Emma Specter, Vogue, 19 Oct. 2025
Described as a gritty neo-noir folktale, the film is set in rural Missouri and turns on a young man who struggles to keep his family together in the midst of a tragedy.
—Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 15 Oct. 2025
Meanwhile, Freudians and evolutionary psychologists trawled folktales for evidence to shore up their theories.
—Manvir Singh, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
Later, the look became incorporated in folktales as the attire of grim reapers.
—Claire Wang, NBC news, 12 Oct. 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 22 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
folktale
noun
folk·tale
-ˌtāl 
: a story made up and handed down by the common people
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