Synonyms

retell

American

[ree-tel] / riˈtɛl /

verb (used with object)

retold, retelling

to tell (a story, tale, etc.) over again or in a new way.

It’s Sleeping Beauty retold with a different twist.

retell British

/ riːˈtɛl /

verb

to relate (a story, etc) again or differently

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of retell

re- + tell ¹

Explanation

If you recite your story a second time, you retell it. After they hear about how you actually slipped on a banana peel, your laughing friends may beg you to retell the incident over and over again. To retell is to reiterate something, or to tell it again. You might retell your favorite joke every time you have a new audience, or you may find yourself having to retell the details of a fender bender you witnessed once the police show up. When a writer takes up an old theme or story to put their own new twist on it, they retell it: "My goal was to retell the classic Cinderella tale in a modern way."

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Vocabulary lists containing retell

Vocabulary of the Common Core

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Conventions, Writing to Sources, and Speaking & Listening, Unit 1

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Part 3 Vocabulary (Unit 4)

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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.

Now “Five Bullets,” by Elliot Williams, and “Fear and Fury,” by Heather Ann Thompson, retell the story.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 6, 2026

Before the alert was added, she frequently had to retell the story of how he was failed.

From BBC • Nov. 28, 2025

She has always trusted that her readers and followers would be able to pay attention and keep up, but after more than 50 years, she is right to want to retell her stories.

From Salon • Nov. 11, 2025

What inspired you to retell “Cinderella” as a body horror comedy?

From Salon • Apr. 18, 2025

Suesetta and I retell the whole conversation to each other, like we need to hear it again in order to understand what just happened.

From "Betty Before X" by Ilyasah Shabazz and Renée Watson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023