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 novellas
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
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Recent Examples of tales
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
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
Competing tales about the origins of kugelhopf variously feature the three magi, battles at the gates of Vienna and a teenaged Marie Antoinette.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 10 June 2026
Stories about her parties became local legend, as did tales of her feuds with neighbors and her tendency to flout social conventions.
—Virginia Chamlee, PEOPLE, 9 June 2026
Disclosure Day tracks the parallel tales of Daniel and Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt), an ambitious Kansas City TV weatherperson who one morning starts speaking fluent Russian to her boyfriend (Wyatt Russell) after a cardinal flies through their window.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 9 June 2026
Discovery tales → Researchers say intriguing evidence could reshape a centuries-old debate tied to biblical lore.
—Staff, FOXNews.com, 9 June 2026
Greifeneder’s team is working on a prequel to hit TNT show 4 Blocks, a thriller from Dark producers Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar starring Dark’s Lisa Vicari and based on the tales of Struwwelpeter, and a Beetz Brothers documentary about the theft of the Big Maple Leaf gold coin in Berlin.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 9 June 2026
Hear tales directly from abductees with Dr John.
—Harry Bennett, Space.com, 8 June 2026
Scarlett Harris, Time, 11 June 2026
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
Competing tales about the origins of kugelhopf variously feature the three magi, battles at the gates of Vienna and a teenaged Marie Antoinette.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 10 June 2026
Stories about her parties became local legend, as did tales of her feuds with neighbors and her tendency to flout social conventions.
—Virginia Chamlee, PEOPLE, 9 June 2026
Disclosure Day tracks the parallel tales of Daniel and Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt), an ambitious Kansas City TV weatherperson who one morning starts speaking fluent Russian to her boyfriend (Wyatt Russell) after a cardinal flies through their window.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 9 June 2026
Discovery tales → Researchers say intriguing evidence could reshape a centuries-old debate tied to biblical lore.
—Staff, FOXNews.com, 9 June 2026
Greifeneder’s team is working on a prequel to hit TNT show 4 Blocks, a thriller from Dark producers Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar starring Dark’s Lisa Vicari and based on the tales of Struwwelpeter, and a Beetz Brothers documentary about the theft of the Big Maple Leaf gold coin in Berlin.
—Max Goldbart, Deadline, 9 June 2026
Hear tales directly from abductees with Dr John.
—Harry Bennett, Space.com, 8 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tales
Noun
-
Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.—
Data Skrive,
New York Times,
10 Dec. 2025
-
The streamer, owned by Reliance Industries and backed by Disney, will introduce regional-first formats, and new stories and creative voices, while develoing writing labs, mentorship programs and skill-building workshops.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
9 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
However, what seemed like the perfect life was really a complex house of cards built on lies and insanity.—
David Hookstead OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
16 June 2026
-
For his potential successor, Republicans are left to choose between an outright election denier, Vernon Jones, and a state lawmaker, Tim Fleming, who avoids explicitly disputing the president’s 2020 election lies.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
16 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
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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
Noun
-
The 32-year-old Rozier was charged with two counts this past fall, but prosecutors added two new charges last month in a superseding indictment.—
Mike Vorkunov,
New York Times,
16 June 2026
-
An Oslo court ruled that Marius Borg Hoiby, who joined the royal family when his mother Mette-Marit married Haakon in 2001, was guilty of two counts of rape including one in the basement of the crown prince’s home.—
Reuters,
CNN Money,
15 June 2026
Noun
-
Those whispers turned into roars in the bottom of the fifth inning when PCA sent a screamer down the first-base line and cruised into second for a double.—
Mark Harris OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
16 June 2026
-
There are whispers that the SEC is looking at this market, but any regulation will come slowly, and in an era where white-collar-crime prosecution numbers are dramatically down, federal enforcement will likely be scattered.—
Allie Garfinkle,
Fortune,
11 June 2026
Noun
-
Two of those scores went to receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who finished with seven catches for 92 yards.—
Michael-Shawn Dugar,
New York Times,
8 Dec. 2025
-
As an example, the attorneys pointed to Walls having IQ scores of 72 and 74 as an adult.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
8 Dec. 2025
Noun
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The superstar's power over the latter rundowns has begun to wane, and that allows several of Michael Jackson's most famous compositions to climb again on various Billboard tallies that are centered around R&B music.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2026
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The Ponies also received tallies from Jonah Johnston, Vaughn Fatheree, Bennett Martin and Keiran Jones.—
Tris Wykes,
Twin Cities,
11 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tales.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tales. Accessed 18 Jun. 2026.
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