anecdote

anecdote — noun

1. a true story about one event, usually told to make people laugh or show what som

1.nounC1
Definition

a true story about one event, usually told to make people laugh or show what someone is like.

Example

At dinner, Grandpa told an anecdote about losing his shoes in Rome.

tell an anecdote about something

The mayor opened the meeting with an anecdote from her first campaign.

open with an anecdote

Common collocations
  • funny anecdote
  • personal anecdote
  • family anecdote
  • childhood anecdote
  • brief anecdote
Synonyms
  • story

    the broad everyday word; it can be much longer and may be invented

  • tale

    more literary and often suggests imagination or exaggeration

  • reminiscence

    a remembered account from the past, often longer and more reflective

Grammar Patterns

an anecdote about something

tell/share an anecdote

open with an anecdote

Usage Note

Often follows verbs like tell, share, and open with. In speeches or articles, one anecdote is often placed near the beginning to make a person or topic feel vivid before the main point appears.

Common Mistakes

Grandpa said an anecdote about army life.
Grandpa told an anecdote about army life.
Use 'tell', not 'say', with stories.
She shared an anecdote of her first job.
She shared an anecdote about her first job.
'About' is the usual preposition for the topic.

Word family

  • anecdotal
    adjectiveC2
  • anecdotally
    adverbC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Anecdote, story, tale, and reminiscence all describe something told from the past, but they differ in tone and scope. An anecdote is usually short and centres on one striking moment, often to entertain listeners or reveal a person's character. Story is the broad everyday word and may be true or invented, short or long. Tale sounds more literary and often suggests imagination, drama, or exaggeration. Reminiscence is more reflective: it is a memory someone shares, often with feeling, and it can continue for much longer than an anecdote. A speaker may open a talk with an anecdote about a teacher, while a grandparent may tell a long reminiscence about village life.

anecdote ↗story ↗tale ↗reminiscence

Common collocations

Nouns

  • personal anecdote
  • funny anecdote
  • family anecdote
  • childhood anecdote

Phrases

  • tell an anecdote
  • share an anecdote
  • open with an anecdote

Prepositions

  • anecdote about
  • anecdote from

Etymology

GreekLate LatinFrenchEnglish

English borrowed anecdote from French, which had taken it from late Latin anecdota and earlier Greek anekdota. In Greek it originally meant 'things not published', and the word later narrowed in English to the idea of a brief true story that people tell in speech or writing.