INDEX:
1. a story
2. stories that are intended to teach people something
3. someone in a story
4. the events in a story
5. the story of a real person’s life
6. the story of your own life
RELATED WORDS
see also
↑ FILM/MOVIE
↑ BOOKS
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1. a story
▷ story /ˈstɔːri/ [countable noun]
a description of real or imaginary events, which is told or written to entertain people :
▪ All children love stories.
▪ The film was OK, but I didn’t think the story was very realistic.
▪ a book of short stories
tell/read somebody a story
▪ Sally, will you read us a story?
story about
▪ Grandpa’s always telling us stories about when he was a boy
story of
▪ The movie tells the story of a young girl brought up in the Deep South in the 1930s.
ghost/love story
▪ We sat around the fire telling ghost stories.
fairy story
a story about imaginary people, creatures, and events
▪ He looked like some giant from a fairy story.
true story
about events that really happened
▪ The film is based on a true story.
▷ tale /teɪl/ [countable noun]
an exciting story about imaginary events :
tale of
▪ ‘Treasure Island’ - a tale of pirates and adventure
tell a tale
▪ She told us many tales about when our father was a child.
fairy tale
a story about imaginary creatures, people, and events
▪ Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales
▷ fiction /ˈfɪkʃ ə n/ [uncountable noun]
writing that describes imaginary people and events :
▪ So much modern fiction is full of sex and violence.
work of fiction
▪ Although it is a work of fiction, it is based on fact.
crime/romantic/historical etc fiction
▪ Adopting the style of romantic fiction, she said, ‘I love him passionately’.
science fiction
stories about imaginary future times
▪ a science fiction novel
fictional [adjective]
▪ I had to remind myself these were fictional characters, not real people.
▷ myth /mɪθ/ [countable/uncountable noun]
a very old story, about gods and magical creatures :
▪ The myth tells of how the gods sent fire to the earth in flashes of lightning.
▪ a ballet based on a Greek myth
▪ The heroes of myth all had some point of weakness.
▷ legend /ˈledʒ ə nd/ [countable/uncountable noun]
an old story, usually about strange events or people with magic powers :
▪ According to legend, the whole castle was washed into the sea.
legend of
▪ the legend of Robin Hood
legend has it (that)
according to legend
▪ Legend has it that Sarah Heln, who died in 1913, was shut alive inside a lead coffin.
▷ anecdote /ˈænɪkdəʊt/ [countable noun]
a short funny story about something that really happened :
▪ Personal anecdotes have no place in an academic essay.
anecdote about
▪ The book is full of amusing anecdotes about his time in the police force.
▷ saga /ˈsɑːgə/ [countable noun]
a story about a series of connected events or adventures that take place over a long period of time, especially events involving one family :
▪ The novel is a historical saga, set in Tudor times.
saga of
▪ Her saga of the rise and fall of a powerful family dynasty was a great commercial success.
▷ epic /ˈepɪk/ [countable noun]
a story told in a long book, film, or poem which is about great or exciting events, especially in history :
▪ The film was billed as an epic -- an adventure story that would take the world and the box-office by storm.
▪ The history of a single event has been spun out to fill a 255 page epic.
epic poem/hero/style etc
▪ the epic poem "Beowulf'
2. stories that are intended to teach people something
▷ allegory /ˈælɪg ə ri, ˈæləg ə riǁ-gɔːri/ [countable noun]
a story in which the events and characters represent something or someone else from the real world :
▪ "Animal Farm' is an allegory in which the animals represent the Russian people and Farmer Jones the old Tsarist regime.
allegory of
▪ The film was a dark, powerful allegory of life in post-war America.
▷ parable /ˈpærəb ə l/ [countable noun]
a short simple story that is used to teach something, especially what is morally right :
▪ Christ used parables to explain moral questions in a way that people could understand.
▪ It is a kind of parable for the eighties -- a lesson about the destructiveness of greed.
parable of
▪ the parable of ‘The Prodigal Son’
▷ fable /ˈfeɪb ə l/ [countable noun]
a story that has a moral message, especially a story in which animals are used to represent people’s good and bad behaviour :
▪ The best-known of Aesop’s fables is "The Tortoise and the Hare'.
▪ The life of Howard Hughes cannot fail to remind us of the fable of Midas.
3. someone in a story
▷ character /ˈkærɪktəʳ, ˈkærəktəʳ/ [countable noun]
one of the people in a story :
▪ The two main characters in the book are a young boy and his teacher.
▪ Each group is named after a fictional character like Mickey Mouse.
▷ hero /ˈhɪ ə rəʊ/ [countable noun]
the man or boy who is the main character in a story :
▪ In cinema, the hero always got the girl and the bad guy was always punished.
▪ Shakespeare’s best-known tragic hero is probably Hamlet.
hero of
▪ Who was the hero of ‘The Catcher in the Rye’?
▷ heroine /ˈherəʊɪn/ [countable noun]
the woman or girl who is the main character in a story :
▪ The story is narrated entirely by the heroine.
▪ She seems to see herself as some kind of romantic heroine in a trashy novel.
4. the events in a story
▷ plot /plɒtǁplɑːt/ [countable noun]
the series of events that happen in a book, play, film etc, and the way they are all connected :
▪ The plot was so complicated that I was totally confused by the time I was two chapters in.
▪ The book doesn’t have much of a plot, but its characters are fantastic.
▷ storyline /ˈstɔːrilaɪn/ [countable noun]
the main story of a book, play, film etc :
▪ Anna’s marriage problems form the main storyline in Episode One.
▪ The storyline was too far-fetched, and none of the actors were particularly good.
5. the story of a real person’s life
▷ biography /baɪˈɒgrəfiǁ-ˈɑːg-/ [countable noun]
a book that is the story of a famous person’s life :
▪ She is the author of several books, including a biography of the artist Salvador Dali.
▪ Isaac Deutscher’s outstanding biographies of Stalin and Trotsky
▷ life /laɪf/ [countable noun usually singular]
the story of a famous person’s life, as described in a book, or shown in paintings or a film :
▪ Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson was published in 1791.
▪ The lower series of frescoes describe the life of Saint Francis of Assisi.
▷ life story /ˈlaɪf ˌstɔːri/ [countable noun]
an account, especially a spoken account, of the main events that have happened in someone’s life :
▪ When you meet someone for the first time, they don’t want your entire life story in detail.
▪ The newspaper has been running his life story for the past two weeks.
6. the story of your own life
▷ autobiography /ˌɔːtəbaɪˈɒgrəfiǁ-ˈɑːg-/ [countable noun]
the story of your own life, which you have written yourself :
▪ In his autobiography he described his life as an explorer in some of the remotest parts of the earth.
▪ Her autobiography will be published next month, and will be a guaranteed bestseller.
▷ memoirs /ˈmemwɑːʳz/ [plural noun]
the story of your own life which you have written yourself, especially your involvement in important political or military events :
▪ In his memoirs he gives a new insight into several political scandals of the pre-war years.
▪ The duke’s memoirs will be serialised in the Sunday Times.
▷ story of your life /ˌstɔːri əv jɔːʳ ˈlaɪf/ [noun phrase]
a spoken account of the main events that have happened in your life, especially if they are boring or unpleasant :
tell somebody the story of your life
▪ He told me the story of his life right from the early days in a poor part of Washington.
▪ She began to tell him the story of her life, a long catalogue of disappointment and gloom.