as in allegory
a story intended to teach a basic truth or moral about life the film is an apologue of sorts, but the message is couched in a zany and action-filled plot

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for apologue
Noun
  • Figgis weaves together archival material, unfiltered cast interviews, and a close-up view of how Coppola drew from Roman history, political allegory, and his own singular vision to shape the world of Megalopolis.
    Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 28 Aug. 2025
  • But The Women’s Credit Gap Is Real The story of First Women’s Bank of New York City is an allegory of denial that the women’s credit gap exists.
    Ann Rutledge, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • The playwrights intended the drama as an allegorical parable for the age shaped by Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy.
    Time, Time, 10 July 2025
  • The story is often described as a parable of freedom versus control.
    Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 5 July 2025
Noun
  • Swift’s dismay about a powerful ex became a fable for any girl courted by an older guy.
    Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2025
  • This fable includes abuse and hatred, darkness, magic, love.
    The Know, Denver Post, 31 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • The tale is pilfered from the Aeneid, but Virgil would blench to see the curtain rise on Jupiter, dandling Ganymede, a beautiful boy, upon his knee.
    Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel Hamnet imagined the relationship between the Bard and his spouse as an intimate tale of lust, compromise, joy, resentment, support, and sorrow.
    David Fear, Rolling Stone, 8 Sep. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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“Apologue.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/apologue. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

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