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

Race isn’t his subject, though it’s a compounding factor in his extreme alienation, which Booth chooses to examine in the universal terms of a modern fable, unlimited by demographic or diagnostic categories.

From Los Angeles Times

It reads almost like a fable about the dangers AI poses, especially when local communities are targeted.

From BBC

“Megalopolis,” dubbed a “Roman Epic fable set in an imagined Modern America,” premiered at Cannes in May and comes to theaters Sept. 27.

From Los Angeles Times

Having a pet crocodile in the backyard sounds like a far-fetched Australian fable – like riding kangaroos to school or the existence of drop bears.

From BBC

There are explanations without meaning: Its space station death trap is divided between two sides, one called Romulus and the other Remus after Rome’s foundational fable, without leaning into the why of it.

From Salon

Related Words

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