fabulist
Americannoun
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a person who invents or recounts fables
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a person who lies or falsifies
Etymology
Origin of fabulist
1585–95; < Middle French fabuliste, equivalent to < fābul ( a ) fable + -iste -ist
Explanation
A fabulist is a storyteller. Your uncle who spends holiday gatherings telling stories that end with clear morals is a fabulist, and so is your cousin who invents long, complicated excuses for being late to school every morning. Someone who writes or recites fables — moralistic tales that often feature animals as characters — is one kind of fabulist. The ancient Greek fabulist Aesop, for example, composed many stories about talking animals that ended with important moral lessons. Another kind of fabulist is a person who tells tall tales, or who lies. The root of fabulist is the Old French fable, "lie or pretense," from the Latin fabula, "story, play, or tale," or literally, "that which is told."
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.
“We don’t know what happened between Amy and her mother,” Luck said, before going on to call Acton “a serial fabulist who has some serious problems with the truth.”
From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2026
And so, whatever the jurors think of Cohen — truth-teller, fabulist or something in between — the prosecution did not need them to believe his every word.
From Seattle Times ● May 19, 2024
There is no substantive evidence to support his fabulist conspiratorial delusions-fantasies of persecution and other harm.
From Salon ● May 2, 2024
An inveterate fabulist who remains terrified of his father, Casimir seems to have invented the wife and three children whom the family has never met.
From New York Times ● Jan. 24, 2024
She was certain some primitive fabulist had foreseen this complication, but her mind was weary and shadowed, and the historic solution evaded her.
From Ewing\'s Lady by Harry Leon Wilson
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