as in stories
a work with imaginary characters and events that is shorter and usually less complex than a novel
her very first short story was accepted for publication in a local journal
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Recent Examples of short stories
These invasion fictions took a range of forms, from short stories and pamphlets to novellas and full-length novels, and proliferated especially in the late-Victorian and Edwardian period leading up to World War I, which brought the subgenre’s brief flourishing to an end.
—
Ivan Kreilkamp, JSTOR Daily, 10 June 2026
Monsters of various shapes and sizes creep across the pages of Spark’s novels, plays and short stories.
—Literary Hub, 9 June 2026
Since then, the latter has authored over 40 fantasy and science fiction works, including novels, graphic novels, young adult novels and short stories which have collectively sold over 50 million copies worldwide.
—Shyla Watson, PEOPLE, 1 June 2026
In February of that year, Gabriel García Márquez, then a law student who was beginning to publish his first short stories in newspapers, attended a demonstration led by Gaitán.
—Roberto Andrés, The Dial, 28 May 2026
The Book Catapult Specializing in literary fiction, short stories and narrative nonfiction.
—Erik Pedersen, Oc Register, 20 May 2026
Last year's International Booker Prize went to Heart Lamp, a collection of short stories from author Banu Mushtaq about the lives of girls and women in south Indian Muslim communities.
—Ivy Buck, NPR, 19 May 2026
The screenplay is adapted from short stories by Ajeet Cour, an influential and pioneering feminist voice in modern Punjabi literature.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 15 May 2026
He was inspired by short stories by Liu Yichang.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 14 May 2026
Ivan Kreilkamp, JSTOR Daily, 10 June 2026
Monsters of various shapes and sizes creep across the pages of Spark’s novels, plays and short stories.
—Literary Hub, 9 June 2026
Since then, the latter has authored over 40 fantasy and science fiction works, including novels, graphic novels, young adult novels and short stories which have collectively sold over 50 million copies worldwide.
—Shyla Watson, PEOPLE, 1 June 2026
In February of that year, Gabriel García Márquez, then a law student who was beginning to publish his first short stories in newspapers, attended a demonstration led by Gaitán.
—Roberto Andrés, The Dial, 28 May 2026
The Book Catapult Specializing in literary fiction, short stories and narrative nonfiction.
—Erik Pedersen, Oc Register, 20 May 2026
Last year's International Booker Prize went to Heart Lamp, a collection of short stories from author Banu Mushtaq about the lives of girls and women in south Indian Muslim communities.
—Ivy Buck, NPR, 19 May 2026
The screenplay is adapted from short stories by Ajeet Cour, an influential and pioneering feminist voice in modern Punjabi literature.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 15 May 2026
He was inspired by short stories by Liu Yichang.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 14 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for short stories
Noun
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Recent stories of the teenager shopping at a Walmart in Fort Oglethrope, Georgia, near Spain’s training base without attracting much attention illustrates the gap between soccer fame and broader American celebrity.—
Clemente Lisi,
Forbes.com,
13 June 2026
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That makes the link between exercise and mental health one of the most actionable health stories anyone can read this week.—
Samantha Agate,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
13 June 2026
Noun
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The first book was published the same year as Serial debuted, kicking off our burgeoning obsession with true crime and our tendency to romanticize the male perpetrators while often homogenizing their overwhelmingly female victims into cautionary tales.—
Scarlett Harris,
Time,
11 June 2026
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Set in Mexico in the late 1800s, the story centers on Francisca, a gifted writer of dark tales and fantastical characters.—
Carole Horst,
Variety,
11 June 2026
Noun
-
These invasion fictions took a range of forms, from short stories and pamphlets to novellas and full-length novels, and proliferated especially in the late-Victorian and Edwardian period leading up to World War I, which brought the subgenre’s brief flourishing to an end.—
Ivan Kreilkamp,
JSTOR Daily,
10 June 2026
-
This pair of novellas is about a middle-aged woman, the heroine’s sister, who comes to Tokyo intent on obtaining breast implants and a protagonist contemplating artificial insemination in a culture that doubts the procedure’s morality.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Short stories.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/short%20stories. Accessed 17 Jun. 2026.
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