tall tale
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tall tale
- /tɔːl ˈteɪl/ UK
- /tɔl ˈteɪl/ US
Rhymes with -eɪl
Where it comes from
From tall (“exaggerated”) + tale.
noun tall tales
-
A tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated; also, an account of questionable veracity; a lie, an untruth.
He returned on Monday with a tall tale about a 100-pound fish he had caught.
Similar: Banbury story of a cock and a bull, cock-and-bull story, fish story, tall story, traveller's tale
Translations
Every language
noun tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
| Español | cuento chino, patraña |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 駄法螺 dabora, ほら話 horabanashi |
| 中文 | 吹牛 chuīniú |
| हिन्दी | दंतकथा dantakthā |
| Português | conto da carochinha, conversa fiada, história de pescador, história para boi dormir |
| Français | galéjade, histoire à dormir debout |
| Deutsch | Phantasterei, Seemannsgarn, Spinnerei, Märchengeschichte, dick aufgetragene Geschichte |
| Italiano | balla, fandonia, panzana, storiellina |
| Русский | ба́йка bájka, небыли́ца nebylíca, враньё vranʹjó |
| עברית | צ׳יזבט chizbat |
Talk about this word "tall tale." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tall%20tale. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. tall tale. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tall%20tale "tall tale." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tall%20tale.Cite this
@misc{tall_tale_2026,
title = {tall tale},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tall%20tale},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
