narrative

1 of 2

noun

nar·​ra·​tive ˈner-ə-tiv How to pronounce narrative (audio)
ˈna-rə-
1
a
: something that is narrated : story, account
He is writing a detailed narrative of his life on the island.
b
: a way of presenting or understanding a situation or series of events that reflects and promotes a particular point of view or set of values
The rise of the Tea Party and the weakness of the Obama economy have fueled a Republican narrative about Big Government as a threat to liberty …Michael Grunwald
The media narrative around Kelly's appointment had two central ideas … : He would calm and professionalize the White House, and he would provide a more measured leadership style than his boss.Perry Bacon, Jr.
2
: the art or practice of narration
… depended not on narrative but on intensity derived from the verity to make the book jump.Stanley Kauffmann
3
: the representation in art of an event or story
also : an example of such a representation
the narrative of St. Joan of Arc
narratively adverb

narrative

2 of 2

adjective

1
: having the form of a story or representing a story
a narrative poem
narrative paintings
2
: of or relating to the process of telling a story
the author's narrative style
the novel's narrative structure

Examples of narrative in a Sentence

Noun He is writing a detailed narrative of his life on the island. People have questioned the accuracy of his narrative.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
There’s obviously the stock of cinematic influences that has accumulated in my own life as a filmmaker, like Béla Tarr’s films or Taiwanese cinema, where the story is more in the details than a narrative. Todd Gilchrist, Variety, 15 Mar. 2024 The concert setlist wove a narrative through Juanes’ discography, touching on themes of love, social reflection and personal introspection. Isabela Raygoza, Billboard, 15 Mar. 2024 Yet intertwined with this narrative of uneasy astonishment is an intriguing counterpoint. Cal Newport, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2024 But what this narrative obscures is that the gains of the civil rights movement were immediately met with a backlash that sought to subvert first the language and then the aims of the movement. Nikole Hannah-Jones, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2024 That barreling is assisted mightily by the two male characters in the narrative, who take turns maximizing smarm and misogyny. David John Chávez, The Mercury News, 13 Mar. 2024 Dragon’s Cloud The dragon in this energetic narrative is carved out of gold over a background made using a rare technique called damascening, a form of decorative inlay using metals of contrasting colors, resulting in a layered appearance meant to resemble the organic textures found in nature. Carol Besler, Robb Report, 12 Mar. 2024 Each outfit created became a scene that performed a story of a life, a narrative that revealed some secrets about how to be old. Lyn Slater, CNN, 12 Mar. 2024 The core narrative revolves around a group of guests at a country cottage telling ghost stories, each of which is helmed by a different director. Katie Rife, EW.com, 12 Mar. 2024
Adjective
And according to Miyagawa, audiences are smart enough now to handle that additional layer of narrative complexity. Anhar Karim, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024 During her tenure, Zhang launched the Vogue Film Initiative, which supports Chinese women in film by identifying and mentoring high-potential Chinese female filmmakers, producers, writers and actors and guiding them from development to production through the launch of their first narrative shorts. Angelique Jackson, Variety, 27 Feb. 2024 Hollywood places a naturally high premium on narrative coherence, whereas Herbert’s text—with its abstruse tangle of names and concepts, its intricate layering of conscious and subconscious perspectives—demands otherworldly leaps of imagination. Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 27 Feb. 2024 The unlikely trio — an actor, a director and struggling artist — come together while investigating a string of suspicious murders in and around their affluent apartment building and offers plenty of laughs with just the right amount of narrative tension. Zara Khan, CNN, 26 Feb. 2024 With its intriguing performances, narrative restraint and unanswered questions, the movie delivers a strong pull of yearning as well as tantalizing currents of suspicion and dread. Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Feb. 2024 According to René-Lortie, staying true to the story’s psychological complexity posed a particular sort of narrative challenge. Akiva Gottlieb, Los Angeles Times, 19 Feb. 2024 Escapism comes in many forms like overeating, doom scrolling, dancing, partying, and some studies have even labeled continuously watching television as narrative transportation and mental escapism. Amiah Taylor, Discover Magazine, 15 Feb. 2024 Real-time analytics provide a narrative layer to the game, offering insights that go beyond traditional stats to tell the deeper story of the game's flow, the players' efforts, and the strategies unfolding on the field. Sandy Carter, Forbes, 10 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'narrative.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1567, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of narrative was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near narrative

Cite this Entry

“Narrative.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/narrative. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

narrative

noun
nar·​ra·​tive ˈnar-ət-iv How to pronounce narrative (audio)
1
: something (as a story) that is told or written
2
: the art or practice of telling stories
narrative adjective

More from Merriam-Webster on narrative

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