fabulist
Americannoun
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a person who invents or recounts fables
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a person who lies or falsifies
Etymology
Origin of fabulist
1585–95; < Middle French fabuliste, equivalent to < fābul ( a ) fable + -iste -ist
Explanation
A fabulist is a storyteller. Your uncle who spends holiday gatherings telling stories that end with clear morals is a fabulist, and so is your cousin who invents long, complicated excuses for being late to school every morning. Someone who writes or recites fables — moralistic tales that often feature animals as characters — is one kind of fabulist. The ancient Greek fabulist Aesop, for example, composed many stories about talking animals that ended with important moral lessons. Another kind of fabulist is a person who tells tall tales, or who lies. The root of fabulist is the Old French fable, "lie or pretense," from the Latin fabula, "story, play, or tale," or literally, "that which is told."
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.
Epstein was a known fabulist and there is no indication of where the alleged meeting would have taken place.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026
Apparently Congress’ expelled fabulist will always keep us guessing.
From Slate ● Mar. 13, 2024
The candidates were competing to replace George Santos, a serial fabulist who made the district a national laughingstock, and an Election Day snowstorm gave Suozzi an 11th-hour boost.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 14, 2024
An inveterate fabulist who remains terrified of his father, Casimir seems to have invented the wife and three children whom the family has never met.
From New York Times ● Jan. 24, 2024
The great German fabulist, Pfeffel, a blind man, once took Billing's arm and went with him into the garden to take an airing.
From Modern Magic by Maximilian Schele de Vere
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.
