anecdote
Americannoun
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anecdotes,
plural
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anecdota
plural
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a short account of a particular incident or event, especially of an interesting or amusing nature.
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a short, obscure historical or biographical account.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of anecdote
First recorded in 1670–80; from New Latin anecdota or French anecdotes, from Late Greek, Greek anékdota “things unpublished” (referring particularly to Procopius's unpublished memoirs of Justinian and Theodora), neuter plural of anékdotos, equivalent to an- an- 1 + ékdotos “given out,” adjective derivative of ekdidónai “to give out, publish” ( ek- ec- + didónai “to give”)
Compare meaning
How does anecdote compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A short, amusing true story is an anecdote. You might come back from a crazy spring break with a lot of anecdotes to tell. The roots of anecdote lie in the Greek word anekdota, meaning "unpublished." The word's original sense in English was "secret or private stories" — tales not fit for print, so to speak. It can still have connotations of unreliability, as in the phrase "anecdotal information." But the most common sense today is that of "a funny story about something that happened."
Vocabulary lists containing anecdote
100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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Argumentative Writing
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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.
See Examples For:
It is an anecdote which underlines the scale of the challenge Badenoch faced at that conference, an event her allies are now with distance willing to acknowledge was make or break for her leadership.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
Carney shared the anecdote on Tuesday at the gathering of the global financial elite in Toronto where he was pitching Canada as an ideal place to invest.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
Throughout the show, his chosen family is on stage with him, punctuating his stories with songs that give each anecdote an emotional button.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
One New York Times report made the rounds particularly because of its opening anecdote about the candidate disappearing at a critical juncture because he needed a nap.
From Slate ● Jun. 2, 2026
It will be a tiny, odd fact about him, an anecdote, perhaps, for a future dinner party.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Happily, this soon gives way to anecdota and reminiscence.
From Time Magazine Archive
Fortunately, Benson has been so diligent in gathering papers and anecdota that he escapes from his own simplifications.
From Time Magazine Archive
Of such anecdota there are many collections; the earliest was probably L. A. Muratori's, in 1709.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Part 1, Slice 1 by Various
When it proposed the rule, DHS cited national security grounds, an argument the judge said "borders on the absurd" and was "based almost entirely on a small handful of anecdotes."
From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026
To determine whether these issues go beyond anecdotes, ProPublica analyzed the data collected from every state by the CDC to look for patterns.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
WSJ readers weighed in on the trend with anecdotes, opinions, and of course, a few jokes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
Huggins described Norman as a humble man who lived to 107 and said his humour, wit, wisdom and anecdotes about living a long life would be greatly missed.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
Our heads were filled with rules and anecdotes, but we lacked any real knowledge of how to perform the job that was ours as of today.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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.
