fable

[ fey-buhl ]

noun

1. a short tale to teach a moral lesson, often with animals or inanimate objects as characters; apologue: Aesop's fables.

   the fable of the tortoise and the hare;

   Aesop's fables.

2. a story not founded on fact:

   This biography is largely a self-laudatory fable.

3. a story about supernatural or extraordinary persons or incidents; legend:

   the fables of gods and heroes.

4. legends or myths collectively:

   the heroes of Greek fable.

5. an untruth; falsehood:

   This boast of a cure is a medical fable.

6. the plot of an epic, a dramatic poem, or a play.
7. idle talk:

   old wives' fables.

verb (used without object)

, fa·bled, fa·bling.

1. to tell or write fables.
2. to speak falsely; lie:

   to fable about one's past.

verb (used with object)

, fa·bled, fa·bling.

1. to describe as if actually so; talk about as if true:

   She is fabled to be the natural daughter of a king.

fable

/ ˈfeɪbəl /

noun

1. a short moral story, esp one with animals as characters
2. a false, fictitious, or improbable account; fiction or lie
3. a story or legend about supernatural or mythical characters or events
4. legends or myths collectively fabulous
5. archaic.
   the plot of a play or of an epic or dramatic poem

verb

1. to relate or tell (fables)
2. intr to speak untruthfully; tell lies
3. tr to talk about or describe in the manner of a fable

   ghosts are fabled to appear at midnight

Derived Forms

• ˈfabler, noun

Other Words From

• fa·bler noun
• out·fa·ble verb (used with object) outfabled outfabling
• un·fa·bling adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of fable¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English fable, fabel, fabul, from Anglo-French, Old French, from Latin fābula “a story, tale,” equivalent to fā(rī) “to speak” + -bula suffix of instrument

Word History and Origins

Origin of fable¹

C13: from Latin fābula story, narrative, from fārī to speak, say

Synonym Study

See legend.

Example Sentences

A raw fable about looking up instead of feeling down, “Bird” shows writer-director Andrea Arnold back in a familiar milieu of cramped youth on the periphery, making do with what little is available, seesawing between explosive anger and playful respite.

From Los Angeles Times

In Coralie Fargeat’s blood-soaked fable about fear and self-loathing in Hollywood, Moore plays Elisabeth Sparkle, a faded star who submits to a back-alley rejuvenation regime to reset her career.

From Los Angeles Times

It feels like a very generic adaptation with a celebrity narrator, when Graham’s Beth could have had a stronger presence in the film for connection to contemporary times, and a reason why we should take heed of this retro fable.

From Los Angeles Times

Carmello, who received one of her Tony nominations for her performance in the Broadway premiere of “Parade,” finds a youthful voice for Kimberly but imbues it with hints of the powerful maturity in her final numbers that brings home the poignant poetry of this fable of a show.

From Los Angeles Times

"Part of the brilliance of Nightbitch," Lenker said in her review, "is the ways it doesn't stop at showcasing the isolation and loneliness of motherhood, cut off from a previous version of oneself and one's life. It takes this fable a step further."

From BBC

Related Words

• fantasy
• fiction
• legend
• myth
• parable
• tale
• yarn