tall
36
6.5
- adjective
- /tɔl/
- Informal
:
inverosímil
- Living in the shadow of Downy Mount, we naturally collected our share of tall tales the way trees gather moss.
- a tall tale
- tall-tale genre
When other tramp printers shared tall tales, Norths were taller, earning him the nickname Astoria Bill.
- When other tramp printers shared tall tales, Norths were taller, earning him the nickname Astoria Bill.
Examples
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In Patricia's hands, a rural tall tale becomes something wonderful, mysterious, and strange.
Fiction book (1995) -
Is there a place for mythical stories and tall tales in the history of science?
Blog text (31) -
We're each going to take a few minutes and tell a tall tale.
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Seems you like to read tall tales.
-
" To tell you something different would be telling you a tall tale," he said.
Academic text (2017) -
His tall tales have increased, and we're tired of him making accusations.
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I've never heard such tall tales!
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To mid-nineteenth-century Americans, California was well-known as the origin of many a "tall tale."
Academic text (2004) -
It's revisionist historians who tell tall tales, all 'credit' due to their perches in leftist academia.
Blog text (21) -
Every summer, the town holds a storytelling contest where residents share their most exciting tall tales.
Synonyms
44
6.0
Unlikely to be true because it seems unreal and extreme
1
4.1
Made to look bigger or more important than it really is
1
4.9
Looks bigger or more important than it really is
1
9.9
Using long, fancy words to sound important
To use very big, showy words to sound important
Antonyms
Idioms
- Australian
To criticize someone who stands out to make them seem less successful
Compounds
- Literature
19
4.0
A story that says things are bigger or more amazing than they really are to be funny
A small bush from Chile with bluish-white tube-shaped flowers grown in gardens
A tall wild plant with bright yellow spring flowers that can poison farm animals
A tall bush from eastern North America that makes sweet blue-black berries used to grow blueberries
A European wild flower that comes back every year with bright yellow spring flowers
A tall North American wild flower with heart-shaped leaves and white flowers with purple streaks
- Australian
A tall Australian plant with yellow flowers that comes back each year
A tall rough grass from Europe and Asia that looks like oats and grows by roads and fields
- Specialized
An oily product left from wood pulp during paper making used to make soap and oils for machines
How Believable
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word tall in a tall tale means 'too big to be true'; a helpful way to remember this is to imagine a story stretched taller than reality, so it sounds unlikely or exaggerated.