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
Her books occupy the borderlands of realism and fable, where the plausible brushes up against the impossible, and the laws of narrative logic are bent just enough to let in the surreal.
—
Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2025
Cregger’s screenplay is one of the best of the year and brings to detailed life every one of these characters while addressing grief and group think, although none of these themes outweigh the thrust of his fable-like storytelling.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 15 Aug. 2025
This is based on a Greek fable of Aesop’s.
—Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 14 Aug. 2025
The story was loosely based on the fable about three pigs who build their houses of different materials.
—Julie Gallant, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fable
Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 18 Aug. 2025
Cregger’s screenplay is one of the best of the year and brings to detailed life every one of these characters while addressing grief and group think, although none of these themes outweigh the thrust of his fable-like storytelling.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 15 Aug. 2025
This is based on a Greek fable of Aesop’s.
—Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 14 Aug. 2025
The story was loosely based on the fable about three pigs who build their houses of different materials.
—Julie Gallant, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fable
Noun
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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
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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
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Getting Started With Beginning Meditation Steps Plenty of obstacles and myths abound that can keep you from taking the first step to meditate.—
Bryan Robinson,
Forbes.com,
6 Sep. 2025
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Inadequate medical advice can lead to injury, burnout or premature retirement from sports, and the persistent myth that pregnancy is an athletic liability can discourage sponsorships and media coverage.—
Starre Vartan,
CNN Money,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Some versions of the tale hold that the song's name came from a stripper Roth knew.—
Jamie L. LaReau,
USA Today,
1 Sep. 2025
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Corbis via Getty Images Father Mother Sister Brother is the hilariously bleak Jim Jarmusch’s offering to the global archive of family tales, this one in triptych form, each family vignette set in a different country.—
Guy Martin,
Forbes.com,
1 Sep. 2025
Noun
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And then everything else about the money is just another lie.—
Baz Bamigboye,
Deadline,
2 Sep. 2025
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It is entirely based on Hamas’s campaign of lies and the laundering of those lies by others.—
Jesus Mesa,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The playwrights intended the drama as an allegorical parable for the age shaped by Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy.—
Time,
Time,
10 July 2025
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The story is often described as a parable of freedom versus control.—
Georg Szalai,
HollywoodReporter,
5 July 2025
Noun
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Set in early-1960s New York City, the film follows a folk song singing Minnesotan with a guitar and a dream, rising from a coffeehouse performer to a counterculture legend.—
Hannah Kerns,
PEOPLE,
7 Sep. 2025
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Music legend Garland Jeffreys dreamed of a more inclusive, less racist society and delivered his vision via song.—
Mike Snider,
USA Today,
6 Sep. 2025
Noun
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There are no sections that go entirely unloved by our staff, but some favorites include literary fiction, cookbooks, sci fi and fantasy and all things kids' books.—
American Booksellers Association,
USA Today,
5 Sep. 2025
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Such subtlety may not necessarily be what readers—perhaps American readers, in particular—expect from political fiction, which can have a reputation for being didactic and heavy-handed, designed to beat readers over the head, as if anything political were made in the mode of Soviet realism.—
Lily Meyer,
The Atlantic,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
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This is a developing story and will be updated.—
Alejandra Jaramillo,
CNN Money,
7 Aug. 2025
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Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.—
Liza Esquibias,
People.com,
6 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fable. Accessed 8 Sep. 2025.
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