short story

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR short story ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a piece of prose fiction, usually under 10,000 words.

Nearby words

short selling, short short story, short shrift, short shrift, give, short splice, short story, short straw, short subject, short sweetening, short time, short title

Origin of short story

First recorded in 1885–90

Related forms

short-sto·ry, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for short story

Pynchon is the author of several novels and one short-story collection.
The National Book Awards Longlist for Fiction||September 19, 2013|DAILY BEAST
His short-story collection This Is How You Lose Her was a finalist for the National Book Award.
The Books Everyone Must Read Before Graduating From College||June 4, 2013|DAILY BEAST
A short-story writer (his “The Evils of Spain” could be read along with this book), Pritchett was a master of compression.
Book Bag: Paul Theroux’s Favorite Inner-Journey Travel Books|Paul Theroux|May 14, 2013|DAILY BEAST
She picks five short-story collections that have inspired her.
Joyce Carol Oates’s Book Bag: 5 Short Story Collections|Joyce Carol Oates|September 11, 2012|DAILY BEAST

The tales in Hot Pink also show the influence of short-story wizards George Saunders and Steven Millhauser.
Must Read New Fiction: ‘Arcadia,’ ‘Men in Space,’ ‘The O’Briens,’ ‘Hot Pink’|Chloë Schama, Jacob Silverman, Wendy Smith, Daniel Roberts|March 23, 2012|DAILY BEAST
A short-story is not a condensed novel any more than a one-act play is a condensed full-length play.
One-Act Plays|Various
The short-story is certainly Miss Goodloe's greatest gift, and in that field she should go far.
Kentucky in American Letters, v. 2 of 2|John Wilson Townsend
The Scribblers' Club, which consisted of short-story writers, is dead—there were not enough short-story writers to support it.
Literature in the Making|Various
But, in the structure of the short-story, the emphasis of the terminal position is an even more important matter.
Materials and Methods of Fiction|Clayton Hamilton
Distinguish between the novel, the novelette, and the short-story.
A Manual of the Art of Fiction|Clayton Hamilton

British Dictionary definitions for short story

short story

noun

a prose narrative of shorter length than the novel, esp one that concentrates on a single theme

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