tall tale

1. An exaggerated, unreliable story: “My uncle claims that he was raised in a drainage ditch, but it's just another of his tall tales.”

Idioms and Phrases

A fanciful or greatly exaggerated story, as in Some youngsters love tall tales about creatures from outer space coming to earth . This idiom uses tall in the sense of “exaggerated.” [Mid-1800s]

Example Sentences

It’s unclear what his position at the newspaper is, but his colleagues seem impressed by him as he weaves tall tales of knowing Warren Beatty and shows off his photography.

From Los Angeles Times

The tall tales, though, were always backed up by someone close to Bobby - or so Kirat thought.

From BBC

His memories of hard work, tall tales and odd characters in segregated, fictional Cross Roads — likely based on Williams’s Burgaw, N.C. — are surprisingly upbeat.

From New York Times

Growing up in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, he knew his father as a teller of tall tales whose own back story was shrouded in mystery.

From BBC

Historians try to separate tall tales and fanciful recollections from actual events.

From Literature