Definition of yarnnext
1
as in tale
a brief account of something interesting that happened especially to one personally Grandpa likes to tell yarns about when he was young

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2
as in story
a work with imaginary characters and events that is shorter and usually less complex than a novel a ripping yarn about space travel and alien monsters

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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 yarn The acrylic-yarn palette of fuchsia, cyan, chartreuse, and orange is closer to a slot machine mid-spin or a glitch on a TV screen than to traditional patterning. María Carri, Artforum, 16 Apr. 2026 The yarn loops of the terry cloth are densely packed, which contributes to the squish factor. Yelena Moroz Alpert, Architectural Digest, 15 Apr. 2026 And knitting meant clumsily looping a strand of acrylic yarn onto the tip of a bamboo needle, groaning, then handing the project to my mother for help. Literary Hub, 14 Apr. 2026 Parkdale Mills, a century-old yarn manufacturer based in Gastonia, announced two layoffs and facility closures this year. Desiree Mathurin april 14, Charlotte Observer, 14 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for yarn
Recent Examples of Synonyms for yarn
Noun
  • The most obvious answer was that the story, on a deeper level, needed to be timeless, a tale of a desperate person facing moral dilemmas of increasing extremity while trying to hold fast to their values.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 May 2026
  • The children participated in Disney+'s 2025 documentary Lost in the Jungle, which recounted their tale of survival, per The New York Times.
    Emily Blackwood, PEOPLE, 1 May 2026
Noun
  • Made in response to a difficult breakup, the work alludes to two lovers parting ways, but also to Pau’s memories of isolation as a severely asthmatic child in a notoriously polluted city, lying in bed staring at the wall and inventing stories to distract herself from the difficulty of breathing.
    Pauline J. Yao, Artforum, 2 May 2026
  • The $30 million, 28-story towers contained 3,000 rooms, an 18-hole rooftop miniature golf course complete with sand traps and its own hospital.
    Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 2 May 2026
Noun
  • The opera, and the novella it is based on, were written in French.
    Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 26 Apr. 2026
  • The chiller is adapted from Elizabeth Engstrom’s cult 1980s novella of the same name.
    Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 22 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • Each of these archetypes serves a distinct narrative purpose.
    Big Think, Big Think, 29 Apr. 2026
  • That means by the time an indictment is returned, the factual narrative typically reflects a backward-looking account of conduct that may stretch over a decade.
    Andrew S. Boutros, Chicago Tribune, 29 Apr. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Yarn.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/yarn. Accessed 4 May. 2026.

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