: 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
Vietnam's Duc Phuc, whose song was based on a folktale about a king famous for repelling an enemy army, was crowned the strongest act by a jury made up of participating countries.
—
Andrew Osborn, USA Today, 21 Sep. 2025
Students learn about everything from food and traditions to dance and folktales from around Latin America.
—Rachel Wegner, Nashville Tennessean, 19 Sep. 2025
Her mother, an enslaved woman whose name is lost to history, had been a storyteller, too, regaling the girl with folktales on the Maryland plantation where she was born in the mid-nineteenth century.
—April White, JSTOR Daily, 15 Sep. 2025
Based on a Mexican folktale, La Llorona is also on-brand for The Conjuring–verse.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for folktale
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Andrew Osborn, USA Today, 21 Sep. 2025
Students learn about everything from food and traditions to dance and folktales from around Latin America.
—Rachel Wegner, Nashville Tennessean, 19 Sep. 2025
Her mother, an enslaved woman whose name is lost to history, had been a storyteller, too, regaling the girl with folktales on the Maryland plantation where she was born in the mid-nineteenth century.
—April White, JSTOR Daily, 15 Sep. 2025
Based on a Mexican folktale, La Llorona is also on-brand for The Conjuring–verse.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 5 Sep. 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 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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