OLD WIVES' TALES Synonyms: 38 Similar and Opposite Words

old wives' tales

noun

plural of old wives' tale

as in errors

a false idea or belief the belief that going outside with wet hair will cause you to catch cold is just an old wives' tale

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for old wives' tales

Noun

This would, of course, require extensive testing with native speakers and guaranteed human intervention when errors could potentially harm someone.

— Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026
Arday admitted making citation errors and apologized, but denied lying.

— Rupert Neate, CNN Money, 16 Aug. 2026

Definition of errors

Noun

Postpartum psychosis is a rare but serious medical emergency characterized by severe, rapid onset psychiatric episodes such as mania, depression, delusions or hallucinations.

— Peter Charalambous, ABC News, 17 Aug. 2026
Songs about heartbreak and toxic relationship cycles are precise and lucid, even in their delusions.

— Vogue, Vogue, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of delusions

Noun

Published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior, 95 people—Millennial and Gen Z men and women, all of whom had a history of using Instagram for an average of eight years—underwent a virtual reality experience called body illusions.

— Nicole Karlis, Allure, 14 Aug. 2026
But Zinn’s illusions in the war, challenged already by lefties in the ranks and by seeing his friends killed, were permanently put to rest due to the bombing of Royan.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 12 Aug. 2026

Definition of illusions

Noun

His obsessive court rituals — including meticulously aligning his water bottles and executing his precise pre-point routines — were not merely superstitions, but coping mechanisms in a high-stress, solitary sport.

— Max Gao, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2026
While black cats can get a bad rap due to old superstitions, these black cats overcame that to secure their spot in pop culture history.

— Maddie Rhodes, USA Today, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of superstitions

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old wives' tale

old wives' tales

old-world

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“Old wives' tales.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/old%20wives%27%20tales. Accessed 22 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of old wives' tales

noun

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