story-teller

A story-teller captivates the children with a tale of a clever rabbit.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A person who tells stories: "story-teller" refers to someone who narrates tales, either orally or in writing, often for entertainment or education.
   • A liar or exaggerator: Informally, "story-teller" can mean someone who habitually tells falsehoods or exaggerates facts.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The old story-teller captivated the children with legends of ancient heroes. (A person who narrates tales.)
  • Don't believe his excuse; he's a known story-teller. (A person who lies or exaggerates.)

Advanced Usage

• "to be a born story-teller": to have a natural talent for narrating engaging tales.

  • She is a born story-teller, able to make even a trip to the grocery store sound exciting. (She has an innate ability to tell stories well.)

• "story-teller's license": the freedom to alter facts for dramatic effect in a narrative.

  • The author used story-teller's license to make the historical events more dramatic. (He changed details to improve the story.)

Variants and Related Words

• Storytelling (n): the activity of telling or writing stories.

  • Storytelling is an ancient tradition in many cultures. (The practice of narrating tales.)

• Storyteller (n): a variant spelling (without the hyphen) with the same meaning.

  • The professional storyteller performed at the festival. (Same as story-teller.)

Synonyms

• Narrator: a person who tells a story, especially in a book, film, or play.
• Raconteur: a person who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way.
• Teller: a person who tells something (e.g., a tale-teller).

Related Idioms

• To spin a yarn: to tell a long, fanciful story.

  • He loves to spin a yarn about his adventures abroad. (He tells exaggerated or imaginative stories.)

• To stretch the truth: to exaggerate or lie slightly.

  • She tends to stretch the truth, so take her stories with a grain of salt. (She exaggerates facts.)