1
as in stories
a rumor or report of a personal or sensational nature
don't believe the tales you hear about our neighbor's kid
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in anecdotes
a brief account of something interesting that happened especially to one personally
asked Dad to tell once again the tale of how, as a kid, he broke his arm jumping out of a tree
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in lies
a statement known by its maker to be untrue and made in order to deceive
told tall tales in an attempt to impress me with her supposedly upper-crust background
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in novelle
a work with imaginary characters and events that is shorter and usually less complex than a novel
the oft-told tale of Sleeping Beauty
Synonyms & Similar Words
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 tales
Their empires cracked, their shadows receded, and their names faded into cautionary tales.
—
John Hope Bryant, Time, 6 Sep. 2025
The mysterious spirit animal messengers that Ji-noo sends, a tiger and a magpie who represent the nobles and commoners of many Korean folk tales, needed to be otherworldly without being fully demonic.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2025
Each episode, hosted by police lieutenant Sandra Brown, dives deep into a new mystery, for a total of six tales.
—PC Magazine, 5 Sep. 2025
But their catalogs are also filled with music that skews away from pop palatability in order to tell woollier tales.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2025
Lindsay Lohan, Brittany Murphy, Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears — just to name a few — were all presented as cautionary tales.
—Rachel Harrison, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025
Iglesias expanded her eponymous short film for this feature debut, which was inspired both by ghost stories and tales of endless summers.
—Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 4 Sep. 2025
On Italian shores, Rumor flies through the towns, spreading gossip and tales about the strange new immigrants as effeminate, luxury-loving Easterners, and laying the foundations for war.
—Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2025
The film follows reclusive novelist Ohm Bauman (Scott), who retreats to a remote Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, but the staff’s tales of an ancient witch haunting the honeymoon suite take hold of his mind.
—Justin Kroll, Deadline, 28 Aug. 2025
John Hope Bryant, Time, 6 Sep. 2025
The mysterious spirit animal messengers that Ji-noo sends, a tiger and a magpie who represent the nobles and commoners of many Korean folk tales, needed to be otherworldly without being fully demonic.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2025
Each episode, hosted by police lieutenant Sandra Brown, dives deep into a new mystery, for a total of six tales.
—PC Magazine, 5 Sep. 2025
But their catalogs are also filled with music that skews away from pop palatability in order to tell woollier tales.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2025
Lindsay Lohan, Brittany Murphy, Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears — just to name a few — were all presented as cautionary tales.
—Rachel Harrison, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025
Iglesias expanded her eponymous short film for this feature debut, which was inspired both by ghost stories and tales of endless summers.
—Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 4 Sep. 2025
On Italian shores, Rumor flies through the towns, spreading gossip and tales about the strange new immigrants as effeminate, luxury-loving Easterners, and laying the foundations for war.
—Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2025
The film follows reclusive novelist Ohm Bauman (Scott), who retreats to a remote Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, but the staff’s tales of an ancient witch haunting the honeymoon suite take hold of his mind.
—Justin Kroll, Deadline, 28 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tales
Noun
-
Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.—
Duaa Eldeib,
ProPublica,
10 Sep. 2025
-
While some among Democrats cast him as the party’s national leader and a natural choice for their 2028 nominee, conservative critics point to his past controversies, including other pay-for-play stories.—
Robert Schmad,
The Washington Examiner,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Out of all the allegations, a few anecdotes have defined the controversy.—
Allison P. Davis,
Vulture,
8 Sep. 2025
-
There’s just silly claims, silly anecdotes that are designed clearly to play to an audience on Fox News.—
Etan Vlessing,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Our family has been ruined by Denise's lies of promising to end a year-long affair.—
Liza Esquibias,
PEOPLE,
4 Sep. 2025
-
It is entirely based on Hamas’s campaign of lies and the laundering of those lies by others.—
Jesus Mesa,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
In the Seattle game, Raleigh admitted it while manger Dan Wilson downplayed it by citing tough counts and the Yankees capitalizing.—
Larry Fleisher,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
-
The woman’s mother and her mom’s boyfriend have since been charged with two counts each of neglect of a dependent, court records show.—
Jennifer Rodriguez,
Kansas City Star,
8 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Davis remembers hearing the whispers of concern.—
Suzette Hackney,
USA Today,
5 Sep. 2025
-
One storyline that will be at the forefront of season 3 centers on Wednesday's Aunt Ophelia, who's been spoken about in hushed whispers throughout season 2.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The four stories and three novellas within it are taken from books Lee published early in his career.—
Lily Meyer,
The Atlantic,
5 Sep. 2025
-
There are also plenty of collections that include novellas, so there are quite a few routes to consider.—
Kristen Arnett
August 21,
Literary Hub,
21 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
The reading and math scores of 12th graders dropped to their lowest level in more than 20 years, according to results from an exam known as the nation's report card.—
Khaleda Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 Sep. 2025
-
Allen, the reigning NFL MVP, went 33 of 46 with 394 passing yards and two touchdowns, while adding 30 rushing yards and two scores on the ground.—
The Athletic NFL Staff,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The crowded field of candidates for City Council at-large and District 7 races slimmed down following Tuesday’s preliminary municipal election, with unofficial city tallies showing at-large incumbents handily holding onto their spots and two District 7 eking out narrow victories.—
Grace Zokovitch,
Boston Herald,
10 Sep. 2025
-
Man’s Best Friend had one of the year’s best debut tallies with its 366,000 units moved — though 224,000 of that was in sales, which is likely to recede dramatically in week two.—
Andrew Unterberger,
Billboard,
10 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tales.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tales. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share