a short tale to teach a moral lesson, often with animals or inanimate objects as characters; apologue

the fable of the tortoise and the hare; Aesop's fables.

a story not founded on fact

This biography is largely a self-laudatory fable.

a story about supernatural or extraordinary persons or incidents; legend

the fables of gods and heroes.

legends or myths collectively

the heroes of Greek fable.

an untruth; falsehood

This boast of a cure is a medical fable.

the plot of an epic, a dramatic poem, or a play.

idle talk

old wives' fables.

to tell or write fables.

to speak falsely; lie

to fable about one's past.

to describe as if actually so; talk about as if true

She is fabled to be the natural daughter of a king.

noun

truth

noun

allegory , apologue , bestiary , bunk * , crock * , fabrication , fairy story , fairy tale , falsehood , fantasy , fib , fiction , figment , fish story * , hogwash * , invention , legend , lie , myth , old chestnut , old saw , one for the birds , parable , romance , tale , tall story , untruth , white lie * , whopper * , yarnnotes:a fable is a short instructional tale , while a fairytale (or fairy tale) is told as amusement , story , anecdote , apologue (moral fable) , concoction , exemplum , narrative