as in allegory
a story intended to teach a basic truth or moral about life
the parable in which the repentant sinner is compared to the returning prodigal son who is welcomed home
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Recent Examples of parable
What kind of message would prime Jeezy have presented without the pyrex parables in tow?
—
Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 18 Dec. 2025
The wordplay is as colorful as the sonics are sedate, tag-team player parables sailing over production seeking a slippery middle ground between East and West Coast throwback jams.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
The musical features a ragtag group who help Jesus tell various parables.
—Mo Rocca, CBS News, 16 Nov. 2025
This more ambitious effort, reflective of his Coptic Christian background, will stand or fall for viewers as a parable of faith versus doubt.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 12 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for parable
Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 18 Dec. 2025
The wordplay is as colorful as the sonics are sedate, tag-team player parables sailing over production seeking a slippery middle ground between East and West Coast throwback jams.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025
The musical features a ragtag group who help Jesus tell various parables.
—Mo Rocca, CBS News, 16 Nov. 2025
This more ambitious effort, reflective of his Coptic Christian background, will stand or fall for viewers as a parable of faith versus doubt.
—Dennis Harvey, Variety, 12 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for parable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for parable
Noun
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Chandran’s reference to allegories suggests the adaptation is leaning into the arc’s political dimensions — the civil war, the manipulation of a nation by a Warlord of the Sea, and the cost of leadership.—
Hanna Wickes,
Miami Herald,
16 Mar. 2026
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His aspirations were symbolic of Britain’s post-’70s modernization schemes, and could easily be read as a political allegory.—
Jordan Hoffman,
Entertainment Weekly,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Described as a political fable that combines elements of a crime thriller with epic tragedy, the plot of Minotaur sees a Russian corporate executives preparing to carry out mass layoffs, who discovers his wife is having an affair.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
18 Mar. 2026
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That lurid fable was followed by 2023’s Pictures of Ghosts, an impressionistic documentary that told the parallel stories of Mendonça Filho’s life in movies and Recife’s decaying cinemas.—
Michael Snyder,
The Atlantic,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Because the Duggars adhere to a fundamentalist fringe of evangelicalism, the liberal media are often quick to use the family’s failings as a cautionary tale about Christianity in general, and conservatives can be too quick to interpret criticism of the family as criticism of the church.—
Tiana Lowe Doescher,
The Washington Examiner,
20 Mar. 2026
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My 30s were a cautionary tale of bad relationship decisions.—
Jessica Radloff,
Glamour,
20 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Parable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/parable. Accessed 22 Mar. 2026.
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