FABLE Synonyms: 81 Similar and Opposite Words

fable

noun

ˈfā-bəl

Definition of fable

as in allegory

a story intended to teach a basic truth or moral about life this classic Christmas film is essentially a fable showing how every person's life has meaning and touches the lives of others

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as in myth

a traditional but unfounded story that gives the reason for a current custom, belief, or fact of nature according to an ancient fable the waters of the mountain spring are the tears of a woman weeping for her lost children

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as in tale

something that is the product of the imagination the stories of lost cities of gold may have been fables deliberately concocted by Native Americans to dupe the Spanish

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in lie

a statement known by its maker to be untrue and made in order to deceive the fables that people tell themselves to rationalize their failures and shortcomings

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of fable The Little Prince is one of those books that is thought of as both a philosophical fable for children and adults. — Kait Hanson, Southern Living, 17 July 2026 Explore the Wild West from the back of a rickety wagon as characters share famed fables about Paul Bunyan, Babe the Blue Ox, Pecos Bill, John Henry and Hekeke. — Nicole Bennett, AJC.com, 10 July 2026 My dad’s stories about his grade-school experience felt like dark fables, peppered with slurs hurled at him by classmates. — Rachel Tepper Paley, Bon Appetit Magazine, 1 July 2026 But the turtle/cat comment just sounds like a summary of Aesop’s absolute worst fable. — Jen Chaney, Vulture, 26 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for fable

Recent Examples of Synonyms for fable

Noun

In her role as well as elsewhere, Kalle downplays the explicit homophobia that might have rendered this a more simplistic allegory, making Asla less a figure of interfering jealousy than a woman who simply doesn’t want to be abandoned yet again.

— Dennis Harvey, Variety, 26 July 2026
This Pulitzer-winning neo-slave narrative reimagines the Underground Railroad as a real subterranean network, in a Sisyphean allegory that illustrates the relentless metamorphoses of white supremacy and Black resistance.

— Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 22 July 2026

Definition of allegory

Noun

Street skits satirized the myth of Modi’s tea-seller origins.

— Asim Ali, Time, 1 Aug. 2026
His adventures traversing a broken land of haunted people and animals may be less the stuff of future myth and more about trauma, but Yoon brilliantly creates voices for human and canine that make both more whole.

— Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2026

Definition of myth

Noun

The tale begins with a successful novelist in late middle age boarding a train after a publishing event.

— Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
Politicians in both parties often used tales of Medicaid fraud on the part of providers and recipients to justify tighter eligibility rules and spending cuts.

— Ben Zdencanovic, The Conversation, 3 Aug. 2026

Definition of tale

Noun

Mandela’s life and South Africa’s history should never be flattened into a corporate parable.

— Gerald J. Leonard, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026
The pair’s mysterious interactions in the early chapters give way to a series of parables of doubt and belief, in which a rational character is confronted by an irrational event—and immediately convinced of its absolute truth.

— Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 20 July 2026

Definition of parable

Noun

Garciaparra's legacy continues to resonate, with new infielder Caleb Durbin recently choosing his iconic number 5, calling him a legend.

— Peter Chawaga, Forbes.com, 2 Aug. 2026
The club’s 18-hole golf course with dramatic valley views opened in 2004, designed by golf architect Brian Curley and PGA TOUR legend Fred Couples.

— Karen Billing, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Aug. 2026

Definition of legend

Noun

Unlike the low-tech solution in American author Mary Mapes Dodge's 19th-century story, modern dike patrols are able to plot possible problems caused by drought in an app and send it to authorities who can then quickly carry our repairs.

— ABC News, ABC News, 2 Aug. 2026
That episode inspires a Gospel story where Jesus is asleep on a cushion in the stern of the boat during a furious storm.

— John Blake, CNN Money, 2 Aug. 2026

Definition of story

Browse Nearby Words

fab

fable

fabled

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“Fable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fable. Accessed 7 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of fable

noun

Example Sentences

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