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First recorded in 1670–80; from New Latin anecdota or French anecdotes, from Late Greek, Greek anékdota “things unpublished” (referring particularly to Procopius's unpublished memoirs of Justinian and Theodora), neuter plural of anékdotos, equivalent to an- an- 1 + ékdotos “given out,” adjective derivative of ekdidónai “to give out,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 The roots of anecdote lie in the Greek word anekdota, meaning "unpublished."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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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:
Minutes before we talked, I read this hilarious Wall Street Journal story, which featured an anecdote about Elon Musk’s Grok putting someone’s bank statement into a group Slack channel.
From Slate ● Oct. 14, 2026
The anecdote sets the tone for what follows, nearly 300 pages—co-written with Alan Maimon—focused on Mr. Winfield’s emotional and financial battles with Steinbrenner.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
As this is basically unheard of, the anecdote plays great on a press tour.
From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026
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
“I shall use this anecdote in my book.”
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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
The company’s AI agent, Pearl, combines first-party data, proprietary insights and research, and real-world anecdotes from in-store stylists who have worked with brides.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
Then came an outpouring of recollections, anecdotes and tributes, from all corners of the internet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
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
The effect of one of Leon’s anecdotes was to make his listener warm to humankind and its failings.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
