short story

as in tale
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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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 short story Pending deals signing, Neil Widener and Gavin James, who worked on the (almost) billion dollar-grossing A Minecraft Movie, will write the script based on their own short story. Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 22 May 2025 Inspired by Susan Choi’s 2020 short story of the same name, Flashlight is a portrait of a fractured family in crisis. Shannon Carlin, Time, 22 May 2025 My Women, a collection of her short stories, was published in English last year. Yuliia Iliukha, The New York Review of Books, 22 May 2025 The play features a series of short stories centered on the character of Bert Allenberry, a scientist from the future who embarks on a quest for true love and continues to return to the same day, the 1939 World’s Fair in Queens, over and over again. Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 21 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for short story
Recent Examples of Synonyms for short story
Noun
  • The revelation of Izzy and Ferd’s son is sketchy; a suicide tale lacks a set-up or point; intriguing female bonds are underwritten; and all-too-familiar tropes associated with spousal violence weaken the work.
    Frank Rizzo, Variety, 13 June 2025
  • But Stone saw no such break, his crack and coke habits held up as cautionary tales.
    Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 12 June 2025
Noun
  • Release date: Friday, June 20 Cast: Guy Pearce, Cosmo Jarvis, Vincent Miller, Toby Wallace Director-screenwriter: Charles Williams 1 hour 43 minutes Inside is not the usual story of damnation or redemption, of the unbreakable cycles of crime or even the virtues of rehabilitation, like Sing Sing.
    David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 10 June 2025
  • Her story as a young, dedicated fossil collector inspired Swiss director Marcel Barelli, whose own passion for paleontology followed him into adulthood.
    Kevin Giraud, Variety, 10 June 2025
Noun
  • Stephen King’s novella about three chapters in the life of an ordinary man named Charles Krantz.
    Andrew Torgan, CNN Money, 1 June 2025
  • This summer will see the first English translation of her earlier novella, Killing Stella, a slim domestic horror story that serves as a perfect entry point to Haushofer’s work.
    Isle McElroy, Vulture, 21 May 2025
Noun
  • The shifting narratives reflect the anxiety of Angelenos amid ICE raids targeting immigrants at Home Depots, churches and retail centers.
    Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 14 June 2025
  • Their story goes together: two women who are both totally powerless and, at the same time, lie at the crux of the narrative—and the intertwining of their stories stays that way for much of their literary afterlife.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 13 June 2025

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“Short story.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/short%20story. Accessed 17 Jun. 2025.

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