1
as in allegory
a story intended to teach a basic truth or moral about life
this classic Christmas film is essentially a fable showing how every person's life has meaning and touches the lives of others
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2
as in myth
a traditional but unfounded story that gives the reason for a current custom, belief, or fact of nature
according to an ancient fable the waters of the mountain spring are the tears of a woman weeping for her lost children
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3
as in tale
something that is the product of the imagination
the stories of lost cities of gold may have been fables deliberately concocted by Native Americans to dupe the Spanish
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in lie
a statement known by its maker to be untrue and made in order to deceive
the fables that people tell themselves to rationalize their failures and shortcomings
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of fable
All this recalls the fable of the boy who cried wolf once too often.
—
Steve Forbes, Forbes, 16 Jan. 2025
Loading your audio article There’s an old fable about a frog in a boiling pot of water.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 21 Jan. 2025
The Brutalist is a Fitzcarraldo fable of artistic endeavor, a universal immigrant tale and a searing indictment of capitalism
Jones plays opposite Brody as Tóth’s wife, Erzsébet, in an indelible portrait of a woman physically broken by war who remains resolutely unbroken in spirit.
—Wendell Steavenson, Vogue, 5 Jan. 2025
Some will read Schlink’s latest as an inspiring fable of intergenerational unity and redemption.
—Randy Boyagoda, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fable
Steve Forbes, Forbes, 16 Jan. 2025
Loading your audio article There’s an old fable about a frog in a boiling pot of water.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 21 Jan. 2025
The Brutalist is a Fitzcarraldo fable of artistic endeavor, a universal immigrant tale and a searing indictment of capitalism
Jones plays opposite Brody as Tóth’s wife, Erzsébet, in an indelible portrait of a woman physically broken by war who remains resolutely unbroken in spirit.
—Wendell Steavenson, Vogue, 5 Jan. 2025
Some will read Schlink’s latest as an inspiring fable of intergenerational unity and redemption.
—Randy Boyagoda, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fable
Noun
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Using satirical allegory, broad farce, horror and violence, the visionary Korean master has made a string of standout genre films that double as subversive takes on sociopolitical rot, from Memories of Murder to The Host, Snowpiercer to Parasite, frequently making a virtue of tonal whiplash.—
David Rooney,
The Hollywood Reporter,
15 Feb. 2025
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Miller wrote the play as an allegory for McCarthyism, when the U.S. government persecuted people of being communists.—
Contributed Content,
Twin Cities,
7 Feb. 2025
Noun
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This is the foundational myth that sustains a tendency towards intellectual tyranny.—
Jacob Hale Russell,
TIME,
4 Mar. 2025
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And Patton’s memorable opening speech hints at the film’s hesitancy about turning men into myths.—
Will Leitch,
Vulture,
3 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Some of the men who were deported from Guantánamo to Venezuela have told a familiar tale of being beaten by guards, strip-searched, and put into solitary confinement, and of suicide attempts as well as hunger strikes to protest the inhumane conditions.—
Edwidge Danticat,
The New Yorker,
9 Mar. 2025
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Were the tales of alien abduction that became popular in the 1980s a kind of mass hallucination?—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
9 Mar. 2025
Noun
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With overtime, the opportunity for avoidance lies in worker classification.—
Shahar Ziv,
Forbes,
5 Mar. 2025
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The case of Caylee Anthony began with elaborate, outrageous lies, and then kept going From the time of her mother’s 911 call until her trial three years later — when her story changed completely — Casey insisted to police and everyone else that Caylee had been abducted.—
Aja Romano,
Vox,
4 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Jameson seeks accounts of its daily life instead of parables of repression, and finds them in long novels by Günter Grass and Uwe Tellkamp.—
Mark Greif,
Harper's Magazine,
26 July 2024
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Bathed in a pink-pop glow, its pastiche of romance and horror collide in a viciously mischievous parable of technology and control that speaks to these most anxious times.—
Maureen Lee Lenker,
EW.com,
22 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Golf legend Annika Sorenstam has endorsed sports administrator Larry Scott for the position of LPGA Commissioner.—
Dan Perry,
Newsweek,
28 Feb. 2025
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Hosted by radio legend Nic Harcourt, with interviews by Lyndsey Parker and Steve Baltin, the livestream will highlight iconic Los Angeles artists and legendary songs inspired by the city.—
Andrea Zarczynski,
Forbes,
28 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Even the show’s outies are innies, of a kind, caught deliciously in fiction.—
Katy Waldman,
The New Yorker,
6 Mar. 2025
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Here are our favorite transgender mice in fiction, from least to most transgender.—
Mathew Rodriguez,
Them,
6 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Forbes Daily: Join over 1 million Forbes Daily subscribers and get our best stories, exclusive reporting and essential analysis of the day’s news in your inbox every weekday.—
Chris Malone Mendez,
Forbes,
8 Mar. 2025
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Test your knowledge of the major stories driving the news this week with the Fox News Digital News Quiz.—
Fox News Staff,
Fox News,
7 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fable. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.
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