urban legend

American

noun

a modern story of obscure origin and with little or no supporting evidence that spreads spontaneously in varying forms and often has elements of humor, moralizing, or horror.

Are there alligators living in the New York City sewer system, or is that just an urban legend?

Etymology

Origin of urban legend

First recorded in 1970–75

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:

urban legend

Officials now have the unenviable task of euthanising the creepy-crawlies, an insect so hardy it spawned an urban legend they could survive a nuclear blast.

From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026

The story may be an urban legend, but it illustrates a real danger of artificial intelligence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026

There’s a certain category of urban legend that only spreads via overworked, working-class uncles.

From Salon ● Jan. 14, 2026

To further compound the chance of peril, an urban legend started circulating sometime in the 1690s that it was unlucky to have 13 people around a table or in a group, he explains.

From BBC ● Dec. 14, 2024

“There’s an urban legend about that scoreboard, you know.”

From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023