a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, especially one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature.
stories or matter of this kind.
realm of myth.
any invented story, idea, or concept.
His account of the event is pure myth.
an imaginary or fictitious thing or person.
an unproved or false collective belief that is used to justify a social institution.
mythological.
mythology.
a person or thing whose existence is fictional or unproven
(in modern literature) a theme or character type embodying an idea
Hemingway's myth of the male hero
philosophy (esp in the writings of Plato) an allegory or parable
mythological
mythology
See legend.
First recorded in 1820–30; from Late Latin mȳthus, from Greek mŷthos “story, word”
A myth is a story that’s told again and again and serves to explain why something is the way it is. A creation myth, for example, is a story that tells how the world came into being. You may have studied Greek or Roman myths in which gods and goddesses wage war and play tricks on each other. These myths are not necessarily true stories from the past — the main idea is that they explain certain ideas about the world and how people act. The story might be accepted as true and serve to explain some fact about the world, or it might be known to be made-up but nevertheless illustrates something about people or history.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But the idea that it is always better to own your home than rent it is a total myth.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
Its findings may reveal more about the dimensions of America’s practice of executing the innocent and show that it is anything but a myth.
From Slate ● Aug. 13, 2026
That is what steadies me and breaks me in the same breath, that a land this rich in what it gives, in shade and figs and refuge and myth, keeps burning while the world half-watches.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
McNish says virginity is a man-made myth created by those in power, in times that "also spoke positively of slavery and stoning".
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
All this gushing adds to the myth of Kareem in my mother’s matrimonial fancy—the suitable boy, the boy with tameez, the one boy to rule them all.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
“It’s the opposite of the conventional myth. The least-diverse films performed the worst and even posted a negative return on the studio’s investment.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 7, 2024
“At first they didn’t believe it, and people thought it was a mistake or a myth. But sightings just kept coming!”
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2023
"It's a myth. They've got powerful wings, but to break a man's arm?"
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2023
“The myth that plants hate to be moved is exactly that: a myth. Any plant is happy to move,” he says, “so long as the conditions in the new spot are better.”
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 15, 2021
‘No, I mean it’s a made-up myth. Not, like, an actual true myth.’
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
Or did they fall prey to the old myths of its transcendency?
From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2026
"And that's not just writers who continually return to the Greeks and Romans -- the history, the myths, the characters, the events -- that's also readers. These are ripping good yarns."
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
There is a timelessness to Mitchell’s work, thanks in large part to the ancient source material, the myths of Orpheus, Eurydice, Hades and Persephone.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Engineers said they were able to debunk some "myths", including that bullets can ricochet off the curve in the ballistic plate.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
She’d tell stories of the tricky little monkeys from Ghanaian myths who liked to cause trouble, play pranks, and … whistle.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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.
