Synonyms of tales

tales

noun

plural of tale

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

• stories
• whispers
• canards
• gossip
• talks
• fables
• lies
• scuttlebutt
• libels
• slanders
• tattles
• hearsay
• defamations
• dirty laundry
• dirt
• fibs
• falsehoods
• fairy tales
• prevarications
• talebearings
• fabrications
• untruths
• mendacities
• whoppers
• falsities

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

• stories
• anecdotes
• yarns
• incidents
• episodes
• occurrences
• events
• happenings
• recitations
• recitals

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

• stories
• lies
• fables
• fibs
• fairy tales
• falsehoods
• prevarications
• fabrications
• untruths
• whoppers
• falsities
• ambiguities
• mendacities
• fictions
• distortions
• exaggerations
• half-truths
• taradiddles
• myths
• libels
• defamations
• slanders
• deceits
• equivocations
• nonsense
• obliquities
• perjuries
• bluffs
• misconceptions
• fraudulences
• fallacies
• pretenses
• poses
• misinformation
• misrepresentations
• misstatements
• duplicities
• falsifications
• canards
• dishonesties
• humbug
• jives
• misreports

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• truths
• facts
• verities
• truisms
• confirmations
• substantiations
• verifications
• validations
• honesties
• authentications
• veracities

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

• stories
• novellas
• narratives
• yarns
• short stories
• histories
• fables
• anecdotes
• jokes
• myths
• novelettes
• legends
• romances
• parables
• records
• annals
• reports
• folktales
• fairy tales
• chronicles
• exempla
• bedtime stories
• accounts

5

as in counts

a total number obtained or recorded by noting each thing as it was being added

when the tale of the dead from the disaster is announced, the city will be in shock

Synonyms & Similar Words

• counts
• scores
• tallies
• censuses
• amounts
• recounts
• totals
• sums
• wholes
• grosses

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of tales

The writers of these biblical tales weren’t plagiarizing Homer, MacDonald says. — John Blake, CNN Money, 2 Aug. 2026

Some sixteen years later, pop Bildung abounds, thanks largely to online fan communities who can weave the most obscure ephemera into epic tales of redemption. — Mitch Therieau, New Yorker, 1 Aug. 2026

The director has also preserved Homer’s nonlinear narrative structure, with tales nesting within tales. — ArsTechnica, 1 Aug. 2026

Continue reading … VIRUS RECKONING — COVID fury explodes as Fauci hearing revives 'insane' lockdown nightmare tales. — FOXNews.com, 31 July 2026

Football is full of cautionary tales (and, for the sake of balance, morally-dubious fairy tales) about the risks and rewards of taking on finance adjacent to or entangled with politics. — James Horncastle, New York Times, 30 July 2026

On Thursday, in a more relaxed setting, Payton became a bard, rattling off tales that will no doubt have a place in next week’s tribute for Brees. — Luca Evans, Denver Post, 30 July 2026

Those hopes are tempered by cautionary tales that have often happened after the Olympic flame is put out. — Tim Genske, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026

Both lefties, Skubel (6 feet 3, 220) is much bigger than Dalkowski (5-11, 175) and may throw as hard, but has yet to take a hitter’s ear off, to reference one of the tall tales associated with him. — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 26 July 2026