myth

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noun \ ˈmith \

Definition of myth

1 a :a usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon

creation myths

b :parable, allegory

Moral responsibility is the motif of Plato's myths.

2 a :a popular belief or tradition that has grown up around something or someone; especially :one embodying the ideals and institutions of a society or segment of society

seduced by the American myth of individualism
—Orde Coombs

the utopian myth of a perfect society

b :an unfounded or false notion

the myth of racial superiority

3 :a person or thing having only an imaginary or unverifiable existence

the Superman myth

The unicorn is a myth.

4 :the whole body of myths

a student of Greek myth

See myth defined for English-language learners

See myth defined for kids

Examples of myth in a Sentence

It's an enduring myth that money brings happiness.
I don't believe the myths and legends about this forest.
Contrary to popular myth, no monster lives in this lake.

Recent Examples of myth from the Web

Contrary to myth, talking about suicide cannot plant the idea in someone’s head.

— linda blackwell simmons, star-telegram, "Opening Up," 23 Aug. 2017
These aren’t the popular images and myths about slavery, though.

— jenn m. jackson, Teen Vogue, "Women Have Always Been a Part of White Supremacy," 18 Aug. 2017
Despite the fact that there’s plenty of evidence that Millennials aren’t lazy, entitled, or awful, the myth that Millennials are lazy, entitled, and awful still persists, and for a while, television wasn’t doing much to prove otherwise.

— eliza thompson, Cosmopolitan, "TV Is Finally Getting Young Working Women Right," 16 Aug. 2017
Although the idea that Galileo went blind from watching an eclipse or the sun is now considered to be myth, some people still believe that over time sun-gazing damaged his eyes and contributed to the onset of Galileo’s blindness at the age of 72.

— AL.com, "As eclipse approaches, 6 compelling examples of eye damage from the sun," 14 Aug. 2017
In addition to the myth that investors must be growth or value purists, Jacobsen says many people don’t realize these styles ultimately whittle down to an industry discussion.

— anna-louise jackson, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Value vs. Growth: 2 investing styles explained," 6 Aug. 2017
In India, one-third of women and girls polled believe their society treats menstruating women unfairly due to myths about purity and cleanliness.

— abigail jones, MSNBC Newsweek, "The Period Movement: Meet the Men Fighting to Stop Menstruation-Shaming in the Developing World," 12 July 2017
Contrary to the myth that today’s terrorism is unprecedented, the IRA conducted more attacks, and killed more people, than jihadists have in mainland Britain since 2001.

— rupert stone, National Review, "Margaret Thatcher: High Principle Joined to Power Politics," 5 July 2017
This was one of many myths exposed during the Snakes Alive program held at Ernie Miller Nature Center in Olathe on June 23.

— anne marie hunter, kansascity, "Snakes make their stage debut at the nature center," 30 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'myth.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

myth and urban myth

For a word so often applied to events or stories from long, long ago, myth has a remarkably recent history in the English language. The earliest evidence for the word is from 1830, well after the time when the events themselves are thought to have occurred (though it should be noted that the related words mythology and mythic are hundreds of years older – still not as old as Achilles, but not young, either!). One application of myth, however – in the phrase urban myth – is quite new. Curiously, an urban myth does not usually have anything to do with the city: it is simply “a story about an unusual event or occurrence that many people believe is true but that is not true.” An example would be the tale that Elvis Presley is still alive after spending decades in a witness protection program. The phrase urban myth has been used to describe such hoaxes since at least 1971.

Origin and Etymology of myth

Greek mythos

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1830

See Words from the same year

myth Synonyms

Synonyms

fable, legend, mythos

Antonyms

truth, verity

Related Words

allegory, parable; fabrication, fantasy (also phantasy), fiction, figment, invention; narrative, saga, story, tale, yarn

Other Mythology and Folklore Terms

elysian, fay, muse, nimbus, phoenix

MYTH Defined for English Language Learners

myth

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noun

Definition of myth for English Language Learners

: an idea or story that is believed by many people but that is not true
: a story that was told in an ancient culture to explain a practice, belief, or natural occurrence
: such stories as a group

MYTH Defined for Kids

myth

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noun \ ˈmith \

Definition of myth for Students

1 :a story often describing the adventures of beings with more than human powers that attempts to explain mysterious events (as the changing of the seasons) or that explains a religious belief or practice

2 :such stories as a group

3 :a person or thing existing only in the imagination