raconteur

[rak-uhn-tur, ra-kawn-tœr]

noun

plural

raconteurs 

1. a person who is skilled in relating stories and anecdotes interestingly.

raconteur

/ ˌrækɒnˈtɜː /

noun

1. a person skilled in telling stories

Word History and Origins

Origin of raconteur¹

1820–30; < French, equivalent to racont ( er ) to tell ( Old French r ( e ) - re- + aconter to tell, account ) + -eur -eur

Word History and Origins

Origin of raconteur¹

C19: French, from raconter to tell

Example Sentences

Like the raconteur at the table, Mr. Winchester is masterly but almost too fluent.

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But Capote, a lively raconteur in life and on the page, takes his time in setting the scene.

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It is something he observed in his wife’s grandfather, a lifelong reader and raconteur who retained his gentle voice and erudite air long after the stories in him were lost to Alzheimer’s disease.

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“But the other thing is that he’s a born raconteur.”

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Hemingway, ever the raconteur, regaled the cadre with stories, matching them drink for drink of this local elixir until the nights blurred into memory.

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Related Words

• storyteller