retelling
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of retelling
Explanation
A retelling is a new version of an old story. Somehow, your retelling of your dad's hilarious tale of catching a shoe instead of a fish is never quite as funny as his version. Retelling comes from the verb retell, or "tell again." You can use this word for literal retellings, when an anecdote is simply told all over again for the second (or third) time. It's also useful for updated versions of classic stories. The movie Clueless is a retelling of the Jane Austen novel Emma. And Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres is a retelling of Shakespeare's King Lear.
Vocabulary lists containing retelling
Literary Terms, Grade 8, Units 2–3
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Conventions, Writing to Sources, and Speaking & Listening (Unit 1)
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Additional Literary Terms, Unit 5
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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.
India's most expensive film - a lavish retelling of the Hindu epic Ramayana, made in two parts for a reported $500m - has opened in cinemas worldwide, sparking enormous expectations and mixed reviews.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
Maas's series debuted in 2015 as a dark retelling of "Beauty and the Beast."
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
Their voices are notably, strangely absent from your retelling of this family saga.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
The line became reenergerized while laying on the ground and started several fires, according to a retelling of the video in a July court filing by lawyers representing victims.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
They’d tell what they’d seen, embroider the rest, and with every retelling, Dirtyhands would get crazier and more ruthless.
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
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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.
