- present participle of retell.
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Conventions, Writing to Sources, and Speaking & Listening (Unit 1)
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Additional Literary Terms, Unit 5
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
His movie is a remarkable piece of autofiction, retelling his first experience with air travel as if it were a love story.
From Salon • Jun. 10, 2026
Hastings used to revel in retelling the story of the melees that broke out that day.
From BBC • May 17, 2026
Had “Traversal” been nothing but Ms. Popova’s retelling of these histories, it might have been a far more successful evocation of these patterns of destruction and creation.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026
Starring Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale, ‘The Bride!’ is a bold retelling of ‘Bride of Frankenstein’ from writer-director Maggie Gyllenhaal, stepping up in ambition.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 4, 2026
“Khoobam, merci,” Laleh said, and before I knew it, she had launched into her third retelling of her latest game of Heads Down, Thumbs Up.
From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram
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.
