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Showing results for short story. Search instead for short+story.
Synonyms

short story

American  

noun

  1. a piece of prose fiction, usually under 10,000 words.

short story British  

noun

  1. a prose narrative of shorter length than the novel, esp one that concentrates on a single theme

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • short-story adjective

Etymology

Origin of short story

First recorded in 1885–90

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The video could be seen as a reference to 88-year-old Sir Anthony's latest project, as he is set to start shooting a film based on a short story by Thomas based in the Welsh countryside.

From BBC • Mar. 23, 2026

The project, based on a short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer, took 14 years to bring to the screen, but got seven Oscar nominations in 1984.

From Barron's • Mar. 11, 2026

Sam A. Davis didn’t exactly love Ivan Turgenev’s short story “The Singers,” at first — “honestly, I nodded off a couple times,” he says.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 9, 2026

Your 2022 short story “Liberation Day” reminded me of people who develop romantic relationships with AI.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 26, 2026

For homework, Mr. Daniels said we have to write a paper describing how we feel about a short story he read today.

From "Fish in a Tree" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.