tale

noun

ˈtāl 

1

a

: a usually imaginative narrative of an event : story

b

: an intentionally untrue report : falsehood

… always preferred the tale to the truth …

—Sir Winston Churchill

2

a

: a series of events or facts told or presented : account

b(1)

: a report of a private or confidential matter

dead men tell no tales

(2)

: a libelous report or piece of gossip

3

a

: count, tally

b

: total

4

obsolete : discourse, talk

Synonyms of tale

• story
• whisper

Examples of tale in a Sentence

The movie is a stirring tale of courage.

We listened to his familiar tale of woe as he talked again about the failure of his marriage.

He told us thrilling tales about his adventures as a pilot in the war.

Are you telling tales again? Or is that the truth?

Recent Examples on the Web

That contradiction is harder to overlook in Lee’s latest tale of immigrant striving, American Hagwon. — Sanjena Sathian, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2026

All of which is to say that Georgia Oakley had a tough act to follow in taking on the beloved tale of two sisters navigating matters of the heart in two vastly different ways. — Beatrice Loayza, Variety, 21 Sep. 2026

This is a classic stair-step uptrend, the kind the poets of Ancient Greece composed odes to and bards of the north told tales about around the fire in days of old. — Josh Brown,sean Russo, CNBC, 21 Sep. 2026

The tale of two Italian immigrant brothers who dream of running a successful restaurant in America, the film was a huge favorite in Sundance and could achieve modest commercial success despite its lack of exploitable elements. — Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 20 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English talu; akin to Old Norse tala talk

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 4

Phrases Containing tale

• fairy-tale
• old wives' tale
• spin a tale
• tale of woe
• tale-teller
• tall tale/story
• thereby hangs a tale

Rhymes for tale

• ail
• ale
• bail
• baile
• dail
• fail
• flail
• frail
• gael
• gail
• grail
• hail

Kids Definition

tale

noun

ˈtā(ə)l 

1

: something told

a tale of woe

2

: a story about an imaginary event

a fairy tale

3

: a false story : lie

4

: a piece of harmful gossip

spread tales about us