1
as in allegory
a story intended to teach a basic truth or moral about life
this classic Christmas film is essentially a fable showing how every person's life has meaning and touches the lives of others
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2
as in myth
a traditional but unfounded story that gives the reason for a current custom, belief, or fact of nature
according to an ancient fable the waters of the mountain spring are the tears of a woman weeping for her lost children
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3
as in tale
something that is the product of the imagination
the stories of lost cities of gold may have been fables deliberately concocted by Native Americans to dupe the Spanish
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in lie
a statement known by its maker to be untrue and made in order to deceive
the fables that people tell themselves to rationalize their failures and shortcomings
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of fable
If that version of the fable hasn’t aged terribly well, an item in The Wall Street Journal this week elicited a few nervous squeals from some the NFL’s TV partners.
—
Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 6 Mar. 2026
Author Laurel Snyder and illustrator LeUyen Pham are a kidlit dream team, and their warm and wise picture book fable will easily find its way into young readers’ hearts.
—Literary Hub, 2 Mar. 2026
That was a fine choice, in drawing sharp contrasts for a fable about how unchoosy the Almighty can be in picking his prime vessels.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 27 Feb. 2026
The performance felt both virtuosic and repulsive, a goulash of hype, sloganeering, and calls to violence spiked with in-jokes, shaggy-dog anecdotes, and populist fables, all of it seductive and—in our dangerous era—familiar.
—Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fable
Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 6 Mar. 2026
Author Laurel Snyder and illustrator LeUyen Pham are a kidlit dream team, and their warm and wise picture book fable will easily find its way into young readers’ hearts.
—Literary Hub, 2 Mar. 2026
That was a fine choice, in drawing sharp contrasts for a fable about how unchoosy the Almighty can be in picking his prime vessels.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 27 Feb. 2026
The performance felt both virtuosic and repulsive, a goulash of hype, sloganeering, and calls to violence spiked with in-jokes, shaggy-dog anecdotes, and populist fables, all of it seductive and—in our dangerous era—familiar.
—Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fable
Noun
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As playful as the movie is, its central tale of persecution and resistance plays not like an allegory but like a communion, a linking of the times—the inspiration of conscience by the revelation of past heroism, political and artistic.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
27 Mar. 2026
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But if these movies are progressive allegories of beings transcending their differences, then Hoppers is a surprisingly blunt pushback to that notion.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Later, settle in for a pint at Teach Ósta, the lone pub, where conversations drift easily from myth to weather to memory.—
Condé Nast Traveler,
Condé Nast Traveler,
25 Mar. 2026
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Just like ancient legends and myths, names have power.—
JD Barker,
Rolling Stone,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Jude relocates this tale of troubled conscience to present-day Cluj-Napoca, in Transylvania, and subjects it to a corrosively cynical twist.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
27 Mar. 2026
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My confidence was further bolstered when Zenker informed me about Beau Miles, an adventure filmmaker known for documenting his self-experiments, who, back in 2020, when an entirely different disaster descended upon us, ate only beans for 40 days (191 cans to be exact)—and lived to tell the tale.—
Ayana Underwood,
Outside,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
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This is a ridiculous lie and desperate attempt to distract from the pedophile protection party’s unpopular war of choice, increasing gas prices and rapidly dropping polling numbers.—
Billal Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Mar. 2026
-
Just as lies were used to justify our attack on Iraq over 20 years ago.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Coogan was poking fun at tech companies’ impulse to name themselves after myths and parables, even when those myths and cultural artifacts have negative associations.—
Diego Lasarte,
New Yorker,
25 Feb. 2026
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Plato’s prescient understanding of ICE agents arose during a discussion of the parable of the Ring of Gyges.—
Paul Rosenzweig,
Washington Post,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Misiorowski, 23, is the youngest pitcher to log double-digit strikeouts on opening day since Mariners legend Felix Hernandez in 2007.—
PJ Green,
Kansas City Star,
27 Mar. 2026
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The Cubs’ future now will depend on his ability to add to his growing legend, and that’s a bet President Jed Hoyer was willing to make.—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
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My colleagues in European public broadcasting, in other countries — whether smaller countries that can’t afford to support their national production at the same level as ours, or countries as big as ours but facing the same budget constraints — are already diving into American fiction.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
26 Mar. 2026
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On the final day of the festival, The Observer is hosting an event with debut novelists the paper considers to be rising stars of fiction.—
Irenie Forshaw,
TheWeek,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
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For more than four decades, the Korean immigrant has worked at the shop near Travis Air Force Base, hearing countless stories of loss, sacrifice and heartbreak from military families and service members.—
Kenny Choi,
CBS News,
28 Mar. 2026
-
Paxton told stories about running for office for the first time and his 2023 impeachment.—
Eleanor Dearman,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
28 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fable. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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