parable
Americannoun
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a short story that uses familiar events to illustrate a religious or ethical point
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any of the stories of this kind told by Jesus Christ
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of parable
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English parabil, from Late Latin parabola “allegory, comparison, word,” from Greek parabolḗ “comparison,” from para- para- 1 + bolḗ “a throw”
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Explanation
A parable is a short and simple story that teaches a religious or moral lesson. The parable of the Good Samaritan and the parable of the Prodigal Son are just two examples of the many parables attributed to Jesus, as recorded in the four gospels. Parable descends from the Greek parabolē, "a comparison, analogy," from paraballein, "to compare," from the prefix para-, "beside," plus ballein, "to throw." The sense of comparing, or throwing an idea beside another, is at the heart of the word. When you hear a parable, you're meant to use the comparison to learn how to act — the fox's "sour grapes" are compared to your own downgrading of the thing you cannot have.
Vocabulary lists containing parable
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I've Been to the Mountaintop" (1968)
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American Born Chinese
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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:
“Go and Do Likewise” is centered around the parable of the Good Samaritan from the Bible.
From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2026
With this intimate, painful epiphany, the show’s larger parable about obligingly submitting to ahistorical ignorance is blunted with a spiritually benevolent ideal.
From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2026
Swindon, for so long a political bellwether, is perhaps providing a parable of Englishness.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
The situation resembles the parable of the scorpion and the turtle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
God was testing him like Job, he declared, and the point of that particular parable was that Job had done no wrong to begin with.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Ms. Strout has developed her true mastery in an archetypal mode, writing stories that resemble secular parables or everyman morality dramas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
Buffett’s lessons and parables remind me of the volatility in technology stocks this year.
From Barron's ● Dec. 17, 2025
As it draws to a close, Hwang’s lethal playground games are cautionary parables about tribalism driven by greed.
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2025
To take one of the most famous Kafka parables, “Before the Law”: “This door was meant for you and you alone and now I’m going to shut it.”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 18, 2023
I just can’t take any more of your parables and diddering around.
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
