Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

bedtime story

American  

noun

bedtime stories plural
  1. a story told to a child at bedtime.


Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of bedtime story

First recorded in 1885–90

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.

Princess Catherine was the first royal to tell a bedtime story on the channel, reading The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark to mark Children's Mental Health Week in 2022.

From BBC • Dec. 4, 2025

A spokesperson for Garbarino did not confirm the bedtime story in a statement, offering that he “briefly stepped out and inadvertently missed the vote.”

From Salon • May 22, 2025

The Professor of English language and literature at Merton College originally created it as a bedtime story for his children.

From BBC • May 20, 2024

“Ooh, a bedtime story about robots and love?”

From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2024

She wrote her letters in the evening, after she had wrestled the horrible Babushkawoos into their nightclothes and read them a bedtime story.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Look it up. Learn it forever.

Remember "bedtime story" for good with VocabTrainer. Expand your vocabulary effortlessly with personalized learning tools that adapt to your goals.

Take me to Vocabulary.com