folktale

noun

folk·​tale ˈfōk-ˌtāl How to pronounce folktale (audio)
: a characteristically anonymous, timeless, and placeless tale circulated orally among a people

Examples of folktale in a Sentence

West African folktales that continue to be passed from generation to generation through storytelling.
Recent Examples on the Web Failing to create a great moral tale (or even an investigation into myths and folktales as in David Lowery’s The Green Knight), Reiner pitches his own self-satisfied obnoxiousness. Armond White, National Review, 7 Feb. 2024 And just in the past year alone, the community has celebrated a new grocery market, shared folktales in one of the nation’s first professional Karen theatrical productions, and now, added a restaurant serving traditional Karen and Burmese foods. Jared Kaufman, Twin Cities, 11 Jan. 2024 Winfrey has gone way past Walker’s sisterhood folktale of Celie. Armond White, National Review, 3 Jan. 2024 The Soraya Christmas spectacular blends music, dance and culture to evoke spirited folktales. Kamren Curiel, Los Angeles Times, 14 Dec. 2023 Before his death in 2009, Cseh had recorded translations of a number of Native American folktales that were turned into a children’s book, and Gauder received permission from the singer’s widow to make them into an animation. Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 22 Oct. 2023 Beat poet icon William S. Burroughs wrote the play, one of his last major works, basing The Black Rider on a German folktale. Al Shipley, Spin, 3 Oct. 2023 Briar Rose is the name of Sleeping Beauty in the Brothers Grimm version of the folktale, and in the Disney version, the character Aurora is referred to as Briar Rose as a child. Lia Beck, Peoplemag, 8 Sep. 2023 Robot Kyle’s independent existence reminded me of folktales about how tools that do your work for you tend to eventually turn against you. Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker, 11 July 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'folktale.' 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

1850, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of folktale was in 1850

Dictionary Entries Near folktale

Cite this Entry

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

Kids Definition

folktale

noun
folk·​tale -ˌtāl How to pronounce folktale (audio)
: a story made up and handed down by the common people

More from Merriam-Webster on folktale

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