SINCE 1828

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old wives' tale

noun

Definition of old wives' tale

:an often traditional belief that is not based on fact :superstition

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Examples of old wives' tale in a Sentence

Frogs won't give you warts. That's just an old wives' tale.
the old wives' tale about the full moon causing people to act crazy

First Known Use of old wives' tale

1572

old wives' tale Synonyms

Synonyms

delusion, error, falsehood, falsity, hallucination, illusion, misbelief, misconception, myth, fallacy, untruth

Antonyms

truth, verity

Related Words

factoid; superstition; fiction, pretense (or pretence); distortion, inaccuracy, misapprehension, miscomprehension, misinterpretation, misjudgment, misperception, misunderstanding; misinformation, misknowledge, misreport, misrepresentation, misstatement; sophism, sophistry; fib, half-truth, lie, story, tale

OLD WIVES' TALE Defined for English Language Learners

old wives' tale

noun

Definition of old wives' tale for English Language Learners

: a common belief about something that is not based on facts and that is usually false

Learn More about old wives' tale

See words that rhyme with old wives' tale Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for old wives' tale

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Examples: old wives' tale in a Sentence