short story
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of short story
First recorded in 1885–90
Compare meaning
How does short-story compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
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.
Before she was a bestselling romance novelist, Carley Fortune had never so much as written a short story or taken an adult creative writing class.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026
As the memory of it washes back over you, “Omaha” lingers, like a devastating short story — devastating because it’s about a pained father for whom the road ahead only seems to get narrower.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026
Catherine Zeta-Jones has joined compatriot Sir Anthony Hopkins in starring in a new film based on a Dylan Thomas short story.
From BBC • Apr. 30, 2026
The play has the old-fashioned carpentry of a solid one-act or mid-century short story.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026
A week earlier she’d made photocopies of the first chapter, a short story Ralph Ellison published as “Battle Royal.”
From "All American Boys" by Jason Reynolds
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.
