fable

[fey-buhl]

noun

1. a short tale to teach a moral lesson, often with animals or inanimate objects as characters; apologue: Aesop's fables.

   the fable of the tortoise and the hare;

   Aesop's fables.

2. a story not founded on fact.

   This biography is largely a self-laudatory fable.

3. a story about supernatural or extraordinary persons or incidents; legend.

   the fables of gods and heroes.

4. legends or myths collectively.

   the heroes of Greek fable.

5. an untruth; falsehood.

   This boast of a cure is a medical fable.

6. the plot of an epic, a dramatic poem, or a play.

7. idle talk.

   old wives' fables.

verb (used without object)

fabled, fabling 

1. to tell or write fables.

2. to speak falsely; lie.

   to fable about one's past.

verb (used with object)

fabled, fabling 

1. to describe as if actually so; talk about as if true.

   She is fabled to be the natural daughter of a king.

fable

/ ˈfeɪbəl /

noun

1. a short moral story, esp one with animals as characters

2. a false, fictitious, or improbable account; fiction or lie

3. a story or legend about supernatural or mythical characters or events

4. legends or myths collectively

5. archaic,  the plot of a play or of an epic or dramatic poem

verb

1. to relate or tell (fables)

2. (intr) to speak untruthfully; tell lies

3. (tr) to talk about or describe in the manner of a fable

   ghosts are fabled to appear at midnight

Other Word Forms

• fabler noun
• outfable verb (used with object)
• unfabling adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of fable¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English fable, fabel, fabul, from Anglo-French, Old French, from Latin fābula “a story, tale,” equivalent to fā(rī) “to speak” + -bula suffix of instrument

Word History and Origins

Origin of fable¹

C13: from Latin fābula story, narrative, from fārī to speak, say

Synonym Study

See legend.

Example Sentences

And the first image they put on screen was Redford as Roy Hobbs in “The Natural,” Barry Levinson’s Arthurian baseball fable that sits alongside “Field of Dreams” in Dad Movie Canon.

From Los Angeles Times

It answers Riefenstahl’s carefully chosen narrative, a fable of disillusioned purity, with an equally forensic counternarrative exposing her childlike narcissism about the impact of her talent.

From Los Angeles Times

Lawrence is sparing in his style, the image desaturated like a vintage photograph, locating this fable in an unspecified future.

From Los Angeles Times

“The Wayfinder” is a story of cultural erasure wrapped into a fantastical fable.

From Los Angeles Times

Some of the fables, such as “The Locket,” are told in multiple parts, its story of a humble sea trader and the allure and dangers of wealth spread among multiple displays and a lighthouse.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• fantasy 
• fiction 
• legend 
• myth 
• parable 
• tale 
• yarn