as in allegories
a story intended to teach a basic truth or moral about life
the parable in which the repentant sinner is compared to the returning prodigal son who is welcomed home
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Recent Examples of parables
These parables sometimes read like gibberish, talking both down and up to the reader.
—
Book Marks
october 2, Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2025
Then there’s this weird other, like Mae got really into parables.
—William Earl, Variety, 25 Sep. 2025
Throughout, in interviews with Costa, Malafaia justifies his political aspiration with Biblical parables.
—Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker, 10 Sep. 2025
The production is filled with humor, heartstring-tugging moments and real-life experiences that double as powerful parables.
—Marcus K. Dowling, Nashville Tennessean, 19 Aug. 2025
Book Marks
october 2, Literary Hub, 2 Oct. 2025
Then there’s this weird other, like Mae got really into parables.
—William Earl, Variety, 25 Sep. 2025
Throughout, in interviews with Costa, Malafaia justifies his political aspiration with Biblical parables.
—Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker, 10 Sep. 2025
The production is filled with humor, heartstring-tugging moments and real-life experiences that double as powerful parables.
—Marcus K. Dowling, Nashville Tennessean, 19 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for parables
Noun
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Over the past 20 years of Black List darlings and Edgar Wright rip-offs, the American film industry has established a new archetype of cinema filled with quippy antiheroes, gory allegories for domestic strife, and character actors rattling off reference humor.—
Sam Bodrojan,
IndieWire,
11 Sep. 2025
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The Terror from Beyond Space served up slimy green men and Red Scare allegories, the period covered by Baron abounds with optimism and wonder.—
David Kamp,
Air Mail,
23 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Gossip fed the frenzy of the Salem Witch Trials and has been the subtext of one too many fables where mischief masks moral rot.—
Oriel FeldmanHall,
Time,
6 Oct. 2025
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Its instructions are vague, its arguments belabored and its absurdist fables too plentiful.—
Book Marks
October 2,
Literary Hub,
2 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Parables.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/parables. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
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