1
as in story
a relating of events usually in the order in which they happened
wrote a witty, chatty narrative of all the happenings at the party
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2
as in tale
a work with imaginary characters and events that is shorter and usually less complex than a novel
in such narratives as "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and "The Purloined Letter," Edgar Allan Poe essentially created the modern detective story
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Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of narrative
All of this complicates the prevailing but misplaced political narrative that New York is getting MAGA-ier.
—
Donna Lieberman, New York Daily News, 19 Jan. 2025
Some of her narrative leaps do falter, like that modem straining to connect.
—Alexandra Jacobs, New York Times, 19 Jan. 2025
The first half delivers a gritty crime thriller following a hitman caught between law enforcement and yakuza forces, while the second portion reimagines the same narrative through a comedic lens using self-parody techniques.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 18 Jan. 2025
Similarly, chunks of the framework narrative seem to have fallen out of the film.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for narrative 
Donna Lieberman, New York Daily News, 19 Jan. 2025
Some of her narrative leaps do falter, like that modem straining to connect.
—Alexandra Jacobs, New York Times, 19 Jan. 2025
The first half delivers a gritty crime thriller following a hitman caught between law enforcement and yakuza forces, while the second portion reimagines the same narrative through a comedic lens using self-parody techniques.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 18 Jan. 2025
Similarly, chunks of the framework narrative seem to have fallen out of the film.
—Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for narrative
Recent Examples of Synonyms for narrative
Noun
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This story has been updated with additional information, context, and statements.—
David Faris,
Newsweek,
18 Jan. 2025
-
Larry Stern Westlake Village A story worth telling What an incredible accomplishment by the Rams, Cardinals, Vikings, and NFL in relocating the Rams-Vikings game from SoFi to Arizona on such short notice.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Per old wives’ tales, nesting is a phenomenon that happens near the end of gestation: a maternal instinct to prepare for birth.—
Betty Liu,
Bon Appétit,
20 Jan. 2025
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This incident serves as a cautionary tale for companies deploying AI in their communications.—
Rebekah Bastian,
Forbes,
20 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Instead, Gracey rearranges the chronology, finding numbers that thematically match the events of his protagonist’s life.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
14 Jan. 2025
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Was the real-time format baked in from the get-go, and was that part of what excited you about a return to the genre? That calls into question all the various chronologies of this and all the different sort of iterations.—
Ryan Schwartz,
TVLine,
9 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Hellraiser Year: 1987 Runtime: 1h 34m Director: Clive Barker The horror author Clive Barker directed this adaptation of his own novella The Hellbound Heart and made genre movie history.—
Brian Tallerico,
Vulture,
8 Jan. 2025
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Among her dozens of publications were seven novellas that appeared as serials in these two weeklies.—
arkansasonline.com,
arkansasonline.com,
4 Jan. 2025
Noun
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With most of the top names off the board, the Blue Jays could opt for an affordable veteran with a history of success over a younger star like Jack Flaherty.—
John Yoo and John Shu,
Newsweek,
24 Jan. 2025
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The magazine’s prose, art, and history will be showcased at museums, live events, film festivals, and more, bringing its iconic stories and visuals to new audiences and forms.—
The New Yorker,
The New Yorker,
24 Jan. 2025
Noun
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According to Esper's account, Patel's carelessness carried significant risk for the SEALs.—
Daniel Klaidman,
CBS News,
27 Jan. 2025
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Even an occasional user of these platforms encounters spammers, scammers, and opaque accounts running foreign influence operations.—
Anne Applebaum,
The Atlantic,
27 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Instead, the boy was creating short films using action figures, adding voice-over narration, and displaying a level of creativity that amazed his mother.—
J.M. Banks,
Kansas City Star,
17 Jan. 2025
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Nila’s retrospective narration, coming over a decade after her first encounter with Marlowe, comments at times on her own lack of understanding and shows a passing awareness of her younger self’s naïveté.—
Jasmine Vojdani,
Vulture,
13 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Governments face challenges in keeping records updated across all systems, ensuring citizens report changes accurately and promptly, and validating changes to ensure the updates are legitimate and not fraudulent.—
Brian Chidester,
Forbes,
23 Jan. 2025
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The district attorney said his team is reviewing thousands of pages of prison records, court documents and transcripts from the trials to reach a decision on the resentencing and a habeas petition the brothers filed in 2023 to overturn their convictions based on the discovery of new evidence.—
N'dea Yancey-Bragg,
USA TODAY,
23 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near narrative
Cite this Entry
“Narrative.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/narrative. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
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