Meanings
plural tall stories
- idiomaticSynonym of tall tale (“a tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated; also, an account of questionable veracity; a lie, an untruth”).
Mary Beard, formerly professor of classics at Cambridge University, directed followers on X to her latest book, titled Emperor of Rome, which opens with a lengthy discussion of the “tall stories” told about Elagabalus.
2023 November 24, Esther Addley, “Was Roman emperor Elagabalus really trans – and does it really matter?”, in The Guardian, →ISSNSynonyms: Banbury story of a cock and a bull, cock-and-bull story, fish story, traveller's tale, tall tale
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of tall tale (“a tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated; also, an account of questionable veracity; a lie, an untruth”).
Origin
From tall (“exaggerated”) + story.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with tall story
Cite this entry
tall story. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tall%20story
“tall story.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tall%20story. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tall story,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tall%20story.
Source: tall story on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.