as in tale
a work with imaginary characters and events that is shorter and usually less complex than a novel
her very first short story was accepted for publication in a local journal
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Recent Examples of short story
Roth expanded on the books with the 2014 short story collection Four, as well as the 2018 short We Can Be Mended, both of which were told from Four’s perspective.
—
Glenn Garner, Deadline, 19 Apr. 2026
And what stood out to you in the short story?
—Yvonne Villarreal, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2026
Indie horror darling David Bruckner has been tapped to direct the feature project that adapts the upcoming book by Marcus Kliewer and that was initially set up as short story in 2022.
—Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 16 Apr. 2026
Feeling neglected by Les, Lindy has struck up a retaliatory affair with his colleague Richie (O-T Fagbenle), who mistakenly submits one of her students’ short stories to The New Yorker as her own.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 9 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for short story
Glenn Garner, Deadline, 19 Apr. 2026
And what stood out to you in the short story?
—Yvonne Villarreal, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2026
Indie horror darling David Bruckner has been tapped to direct the feature project that adapts the upcoming book by Marcus Kliewer and that was initially set up as short story in 2022.
—Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 16 Apr. 2026
Feeling neglected by Les, Lindy has struck up a retaliatory affair with his colleague Richie (O-T Fagbenle), who mistakenly submits one of her students’ short stories to The New Yorker as her own.
—Alison Herman, Variety, 9 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for short story
Recent Examples of Synonyms for short story
Noun
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The most obvious answer was that the story, on a deeper level, needed to be timeless, a tale of a desperate person facing moral dilemmas of increasing extremity while trying to hold fast to their values.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
1 May 2026
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The children participated in Disney+'s 2025 documentary Lost in the Jungle, which recounted their tale of survival, per The New York Times.—
Emily Blackwood,
PEOPLE,
1 May 2026
Noun
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Made in response to a difficult breakup, the work alludes to two lovers parting ways, but also to Pau’s memories of isolation as a severely asthmatic child in a notoriously polluted city, lying in bed staring at the wall and inventing stories to distract herself from the difficulty of breathing.—
Pauline J. Yao,
Artforum,
2 May 2026
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The $30 million, 28-story towers contained 3,000 rooms, an 18-hole rooftop miniature golf course complete with sand traps and its own hospital.—
Kori Rumore,
Chicago Tribune,
2 May 2026
Noun
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The Hellraiser franchise, based on Clive Barker’s 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart, includes 11 movies, with the most recent being released in 2022.—
Carly Thomas,
HollywoodReporter,
3 May 2026
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The structural problems reveal themselves early, as the revolution that defined Orwell’s novella is dispatched by minute 6.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Each of these archetypes serves a distinct narrative purpose.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
29 Apr. 2026
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That means by the time an indictment is returned, the factual narrative typically reflects a backward-looking account of conduct that may stretch over a decade.—
Andrew S. Boutros,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Short story.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/short%20story. Accessed 5 May. 2026.
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