fable

noun

ˈfā-bəl How to pronounce fable (audio)
Definition of fablenext
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of fable Remember the fable of Tristan Peters, who was once a Giants prospect and is now somebody the Pope thinks about regularly. — Grant Brisbee, New York Times, 26 June 2026 The novel has a freewheeling spirit that recalls Italo Calvino’s space fables in Cosmicomics. — Literary Hub, 11 June 2026 The collection spans centuries of storytelling in multiple genres, from migratory fairytales with kings and princesses to legends of ghosts and the Devil to fables with talking animals. — Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 7 June 2026 Explore the Wild West from the back of a rickety wagon as characters share famed fables about Paul Bunyan, Babe the Blue Ox, Pecos Bill, John Henry and Hekeke. — Lesly Gregory, AJC.com, 1 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for fable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fable
  1. allegory
  2. myth
  3. tale
  4. lie
  5. parable
  6. legend
  7. fiction
  8. story
Noun
  • It can be read as a direct allegory for conversion therapy and for other ways that homophobia can alter behavior and cause lasting psychological and emotional damage.
    — Jen Yamato, Los Angeles Times, 17 June 2026
  • Hawthorne’s tale is not just an allegory of the Revolution.
    — John Swansburg, The Atlantic, 15 June 2026
Definition of allegory
Noun
  • Despite numerous myths, a cat's fur color does not impact its personality traits.
    — Madeline Gunderson, USA Today, 5 July 2026
  • This is myth, and fisheries biologists know that pike do feed during the hot months just as other fish do.
    — Jack G. Mell, Outdoor Life, 2 July 2026
Definition of myth
Noun
  • The agonizing legal circus surrounding Sumner Redstone’s final years at Paramount/Viacom is a sobering cautionary tale.
    — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 6 July 2026
  • The past few summers have seen nightmare tales from heatwaves in Europe — the continent with the fastest-rising temperatures under global warming.
    — Julia Buckley, CNN Money, 6 July 2026
Definition of tale
Noun
  • When two young lovers find themselves up against stubborn, money-minded fathers, Scapin jumps into action with outrageous tricks, bold lies, and comic chaos at every turn.
    — Ut Community Press, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 July 2026
  • That includes everything from feeding the lie that Obama was not born in the United States to crude generalizations about majority-Black countries and posts that have sparked anger on his Truth Social website.
    — Will Weissert, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
Definition of lie
Noun
  • Apparently all mothers, even surrogate mothers, were alike, but at least Adele no longer had to fear monitory parables from her real mother.
    — Jonathan Franzen, New Yorker, 1 June 2026
  • The desire to find these kinds of positive parables was largely driven by the fact that Malone is the mother of a young boy.
    — Selena Fragassi, SPIN, 19 May 2026
Definition of parable
Noun
  • First, the inability to use legends outside Ultimate Team continues to be one of EA's cardinal sins.
    — Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 6 July 2026
  • But family legend has it that the one brother who settled on the island married a Native American and began a long line of Gendrons.
    — Andrew Carter, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026
Definition of legend
Noun
  • The obvious gem of the collection is the attention-getting title story, about the Canadian Nobel laureate Alice Munro, who died in 2024 — and whose complex, layered short fiction Aviv admires.
    — Julia M. Klein, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2026
  • Like an author of fantasy fiction, Wolfgang Voigt is continually rewriting and restructuring the internal logic of his own world, going back to his old work in the hopes of imposing some order upon his sprawling mythopoeia.
    — Daniel Bromfield, Pitchfork, 7 July 2026
Definition of fiction
Noun
  • This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
    — David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 5 July 2026
  • Gil was trapped beneath more than 100 tons of rubble after the partial collapse of the Galerias Playa Grande commercial center, which includes buildings nine and four stories tall.
    — Mery Mogollón, Los Angeles Times, 5 July 2026
Definition of story

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Cite this Entry

“Fable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fable. Accessed 9 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on fable

Nglish: Translation of fable for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about fable

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