NARRATIVE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does narrative mean? 

• NARRATIVE (noun)
  The noun NARRATIVE has 1 sense:

1. 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

  Familiarity information: NARRATIVE used as a noun is very rare.

• NARRATIVE (adjective)
  The adjective NARRATIVE has 1 sense:

1. consisting of or characterized by the telling of a story

  Familiarity information: NARRATIVE used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NARRATIVE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

narration; narrative; story; tale

Context example:

Disney's stories entertain adults as well as children

Hypernyms ("narrative" is a kind of...):

content; message; subject matter; substance (what a communication that is about something is about)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "narrative"):

tearjerker (an excessively sentimental narrative)

tall tale (an improbable (unusual or incredible or fanciful) story)

folk tale; folktale (a tale circulated by word of mouth among the common folk)

sob story; sob stuff (a sentimental story (or drama) of personal distress; designed to arouse sympathy)

fairy story; fairy tale; fairytale (a story about fairies; told to amuse children)

nursery rhyme (a tale in rhymed verse for children)

Instance hyponyms:

Canterbury Tales (an uncompleted series of tales written after 1387 by Geoffrey Chaucer)

• NARRATIVE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Consisting of or characterized by the telling of a story

Context example:

narrative poetry

Similar:

communicative; communicatory (able or tending to communicate)

Derivation:

narrate (narrate or give a detailed account of)

 Context examples 

I condensed into a few sentences the Professor's narrative.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Now, sir, I suggest that you take no notice of this addition to your audience, and that you proceed with your narrative exactly as you would have done had you never been interrupted.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

That was the narrative which I read that night to young Trevor, and I think, Watson, that under the circumstances it was a dramatic one.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“But I have read the personal narratives of a score of shipwrecked men who tried, and tried in vain,” I answered.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Sherlock Holmes listened with the deepest attention to this singular narrative.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Mr. Littimer bent his head, as much as to say, “Indeed, sir? But you're young!” and resumed his narrative.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to recommence your narrative.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Bessie, when she heard this narrative, sighed and said, "Poor Miss Jane is to be pitied, too, Abbot."

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

She carried this point, and Sir Thomas's narrative proceeded.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

A textual or media-based representation that is the full or comprehensive narrative or content of the document.

(Document Version Text, NCI Thesaurus)