stories

Definition of storiesnext
plural of story
1
as in tales
a work with imaginary characters and events that is shorter and usually less complex than a novel he's a talented writer, but his quirky stories will never find a wide readership

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2
as in anecdotes
a brief account of something interesting that happened especially to one personally Grandpa is always telling stories about what it was like growing up on a farm

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3
4
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6
as in plots
the unfolding of events in a dramatic or literary work the story proceeds at a pace that many readers will find a bit too leisurely

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7
as in situations
position with regard to conditions and circumstances management is trying to figure out what the story is with the accident down in the warehouse

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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 stories Instead of desultoriness—a common atmosphere in these sorts of stories—the prevailing mood is one of qualified happiness. Deborah Treisman, New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2026 Kim Hjelmgaard is an investigative journalist covering global stories for USA TODAY, from living rooms to conflict zones. Younes Mohammad, USA Today, 15 Mar. 2026 Unlike a lot of women’s history, which reclaims important stories of people who flew under the radar or hid in plain sight—like my last book about jet-age stewardesses—these women were absolutely, definitively visible. Erik Pedersen, Oc Register, 14 Mar. 2026 Want more Outside health stories? Marisa McMillan, Outside, 14 Mar. 2026 Here are three stories about ambitious design projects from three different centuries. Maureen O'Hare, CNN Money, 14 Mar. 2026 Pool play produced its share of chaos and also a few heartwarming stories. Maria Torres, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2026 McCourt isn’t done seeking out Americans’ stories. Selome Hailu, Variety, 14 Mar. 2026 The island is famously low-key, thanks in part to an ordinance that restricts buildings over three stories, keeping high-rises and big resort brands off the sand. Carrie Honaker, Travel + Leisure, 8 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stories
Noun
  • There’s water everywhere, approach angles that punish the wrong side of the fairway, and a closing stretch with a long history of turning good rounds into cautionary tales.
    Jenny Catlin, New York Times, 12 Mar. 2026
  • Celebrate all things Irish, rock out to four bands, watch a musical that intertwines two mythic tales, see a Baltimore cult classic at the Senator Theatre and listen to a soulful tribute to R&B legends.
    John Coffren, Baltimore Sun, 12 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • Minnelli's memoir is packed with anecdotes from throughout her many years in showbiz.
    Marina Watts, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Mar. 2026
  • Is evidence catching up with anecdotes about GLP-1s and addiction?
    Theresa Gaffney, STAT, 5 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • Plaintiff attorneys have built similar tools capable of producing polished demand letters, medical chronologies, and settlement ranges using massive legal datasets.
    Connie Etemadi, USA Today, 27 Jan. 2026
  • This requires a set of skills to interrogate the past by probing deeply, constructing and reconstructing chronologies, and contemplating counterfactuals in which different decisions might have significantly altered subsequent events.
    John T. Shaw, Twin Cities, 5 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • This chilling, starkly beautiful ambient piece draws Nebraska’s marginal whispers to the forefront and smears them across the picture plane.
    Sasha Geffen, Pitchfork, 10 Mar. 2026
  • Jessica Alba's beau just quietly debunked whispers that the actress is secretly dating an NFL star.
    Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 9 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • MarQuetta Clayton, Rueda's attorney, showed messages from Signal that Baumann admitted were lies, including one about his parents being at risk of deportation.
    Kelsy Mittauer, CBS News, 10 Mar. 2026
  • Both wars were based on lies about imminent threats from nuclear weapons to justify wars of choice.
    Trudy Rubin, Twin Cities, 6 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • Now a private chef whose social media posts are devoured by more than 1 million combined followers on Instagram and TikTok, Meehan grew up in Santa Cruz, California, in a home surrounded by wild blackberry bushes and a backyard peppered with peach trees and vegetable plots.
    Karla Walsh, CNN Money, 8 Mar. 2026
  • These plots require communication among Iranian handlers and those tasked with gathering weapons, selecting targets, and devising operational plans.
    Colin P. Clarke, The Atlantic, 7 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • In situations of more extreme mental health issues, teens may not have the tools to navigate difficult feelings and instead, repress and compartmentalize their feelings as a way to cope.
    Staff Author, Parents, 9 Mar. 2026
  • These cuts contribute to deeper poverty, more crowded living situations and poor sanitation that create an ideal environment for the world’s deadliest disease, the Stanford researcher said.
    Chase Hunter, Mercury News, 9 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • For reading widely, there’s discovery to be had among novellas, which thanks to their short length can get away with being weird and different.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Mar. 2026
  • The plan, as outlined by Orsi in that February 2025 Deadline interview, is to adapt all three of the novellas in the Dunk and Egg collection across three total seasons.
    Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 24 Feb. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Stories.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stories. Accessed 15 Mar. 2026.

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