Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A narrated account; a story.
  • noun The art, technique, or process of narrating.
  • noun The presentation of the positions of a politician or political party in the media, as by press releases, speeches, and interviews.
  • adjective Consisting of or characterized by the telling of a story.
  • adjective Of or relating to narration.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Of or pertaining to narration or the act of relating the details of a transaction or an event: as, narrative skill.
  • Given to narration or the telling of stories and the recounting of incidents and events.
  • noun That which is narrated; a connected account of the particulars of an event or transaction, or series of incidents; a relation or narration; a story.
  • noun The art of narrating or recounting in detail: as, he is very skilful in narrative.
  • noun Synonyms Account, Relation, Narrative, etc. See account.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to narration; relating to the particulars of an event or transaction.
  • adjective Apt or inclined to relate stories, or to tell particulars of events; story-telling; garrulous.
  • noun That which is narrated; the recital of a story; a continuous account of the particulars of an event or transaction; a story.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Telling a story.
  • adjective Being overly talkative; garrulous.
  • noun The systematic recitation of an event or series of events.
  • noun That which is narrated.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective consisting of or characterized by the telling of a story
  • noun a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word narrative.

Examples

  • Hindostan,) the hero of the horrid narrative [Footnote: '_The hero of the horrid narrative_.'

    Narrative and Miscellaneous Papers — Volume 2 Thomas De Quincey 1822

  • Hindostan,) the hero of the horrid narrative [Footnote: '_The hero of the horrid narrative_.'

    Narrative and Miscellaneous Papers Thomas De Quincey 1822

  • Hollins, for one, is sure further twists in the title narrative await.

    Sport news, comment and results | guardian.co.uk Jamie Jackson 2010

  • The phenomenon McCall Smith described -- best exemplified by the hordes of fans clamoring for any new speck of information on the next "Twilight" novel by Stephenie Meyer or the conclusion to the "Hunger Games" trilogy by Suzanne Collins -- is what I term narrative investment.

    unknown title 2009

  • The cause of love, perhaps of envy, were the beneficia, flumen aureum of the emperor; and the Latin narrative is confirmed by

    The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 1206

  • I also think that the nature of the narrative is a factor.

    Writer Unboxed » Blog Archive » Read. It. Aloud. 2010

  • Thus, the revenge portion of the narrative is all the more satisfying.

    Current Movie Reviews, Independent Movies - Film Threat 2009

  • Central to this narrative is the concept of the mistake, which Josipovici delicately deconstructs, until we reach the point where the mistake looks indistinguishable from what we might call a right decision.

    New Josipovici « Tales from the Reading Room 2009

  • Where the narrative is aimed to function mainly as an immersive Story, authenticity and verisimilitude may be held more important than even basic literary skills.

    Archive 2009-12-01 Hal Duncan 2009

  • Where the narrative is aimed to function mainly as a conceptual exploration of a quirk's implications, we may expect to see less bolstering as the alterior reality is argued via that exploration; in some cases -- some future and ulterior realities, for example -- the fictive milieu may be argued directly from the start point of a recognisable mimetic milieu.

    Archive 2009-12-01 Hal Duncan 2009

  • A cake narrative is a story that critiques a thing while also offering you all the pleasures of that thing, the pleasures that the narrative itself seems to want you to distrust.

    Let’s Talk About Magic Dick Theory in ‘Dune’ Brian Phillips 2024

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • "I have picked on responsibletravel.com not because it is exceptional in its disregard for the impact of air travel, but because it is typical. We have all mastered the art of beginning and ending a narrative at the points which suit us, and we are never more adept at this that when we travel. A holiday - and therefore its environmental impact - we choose to believe, begins upon arrival and ends upon departure. The getting there and back has nothing to do with it."

    - 'Heat', George Monbiot.

    February 19, 2008