noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/tɔːl ˈteɪl/
General-American:/tɔl ˈteɪl/
Australia:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -eɪl
1
noun
Meaning 1
A tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated; also, an account of questionable veracity; a lie, an untruth.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: idiomatic
Examples
He returned on Monday with a tall tale about a 100-pound fish he had caught.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Banbury story of a cock and a bull, cock-and-bull story, fish story, tall story, traveller's tale
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
an improbable (unusual or incredible or fanciful) story
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: narrative, narration, story, tale
History
Etymology
From tall (“exaggerated”) + tale.
Across languages
Translations
49 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Bulgarian:
лъжа́
(lǎžá)
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Chinese Cantonese:
吹水
(ceoi1 seoi2)
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Chinese Mandarin:
吹牛
(chuīniú)
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Dutch:
sterk verhaal
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Faroese:
skrøggsøga
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Finnish:
kalajuttu
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
French:
galéjade
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
French:
histoire à dormir debout
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
German:
Phantasterei
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
German:
Seemannsgarn
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
German:
Spinnerei
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
German:
Märchengeschichte
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
German:
dick aufgetragene Geschichte
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Hebrew:
צ׳יזבט
(chizbat)
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Hindi:
दंतकथा
(dantakthā)
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Hungarian:
dajkamese
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Hungarian:
füllentés
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Hungarian:
hanta
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Hungarian:
háryjánoskodás
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Hungarian:
hihetetlen/képtelen történet
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Hungarian:
lódítás
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Hungarian:
mese
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Hungarian:
nagyotmondás
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Icelandic:
ýkjusaga
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Irish:
abhóg
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Irish:
scéal áibhéalach
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Irish:
siollóg
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Italian:
balla
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Italian:
fandonia
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Italian:
panzana
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Italian:
storiellina
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Japanese:
駄法螺
(dabora)
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Japanese:
ほら話
(horabanashi)
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Macedonian:
ба́јка
(bájka)
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Plautdietsch:
Ress
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Polish:
niewiarygodna historia
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Portuguese:
conto da carochinha
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Portuguese:
conversa fiada
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Portuguese:
história de pescador
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Portuguese:
história para boi dormir
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Russian:
ба́йка
(bájka)
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Russian:
небыли́ца
(nebylíca)
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Russian:
враньё
(vranʹjó)
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Spanish:
cuento chino
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Spanish:
patraña
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Swedish:
rövarhistoria
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Swedish:
fantasteri
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Ukrainian:
небили́ця
(nebylýcja)
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
Yiddish:
באָבע־מעשׂה
(bobe-mayse)
— tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated
