as in allegory
a story intended to teach a basic truth or moral about life
the parable in which the repentant sinner is compared to the returning prodigal son who is welcomed home
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Recent Examples of parable
But, as in all great parables about technology, the creation eclipsed the creator.
—
Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 28 July 2025
The playwrights intended the drama as an allegorical parable for the age shaped by Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy.
—Time, 10 July 2025
The story is often described as a parable of freedom versus control.
—Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 5 July 2025
Bathed in a pink-pop glow, its pastiche of romance and horror collide in a viciously mischievous parable of technology and control that speaks to these most anxious times.
—Ew Staff Published, EW.com, 30 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for parable
Franklin Foer, The Atlantic, 28 July 2025
The playwrights intended the drama as an allegorical parable for the age shaped by Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy.
—Time, 10 July 2025
The story is often described as a parable of freedom versus control.
—Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 5 July 2025
Bathed in a pink-pop glow, its pastiche of romance and horror collide in a viciously mischievous parable of technology and control that speaks to these most anxious times.
—Ew Staff Published, EW.com, 30 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for parable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for parable
Noun
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Through dialogue, Reason, Rectitude, and Justice help Christine construct the physical form of the sanctuary city while arguing through allegory against the misogyny entrenched in French society and literature.—
Emily Zarevich,
JSTOR Daily,
23 Sep. 2025
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Virgo’s film takes that premise and reimagines it as a twisty psychological allegory, laden with weighty themes.—
Murtada Elfadl,
Variety,
23 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The Master is the greatest of them all, a movie peopled by characters who are at once intensely human and also the stuff of otherworldly fables.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
25 Sep. 2025
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After outlining that corrupt deal, Du Bois dissects how scholarship sympathetic to the northern interests then rewrote Reconstruction’s history, turning the period into a fable of failure while caricaturing Black political leadership and widespread democratic participation.—
Zephyr Teachout,
The Atlantic,
22 Sep. 2025
Noun
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In a battle between two undefeated NFC teams, the Buccaneers and Eagles played a tale of two halves that came down to the wire.—
The Athletic NFL Staff,
New York Times,
29 Sep. 2025
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Told through empathetic interviews with his bandmates and family, Struebing’s ordeal becomes a tale of partial redemption and a lament about the failure of our justice system to meet the mental-health needs of people caught up in it.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
29 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Parable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/parable. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.
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