myth
[noun]
Synonyms:
- legend, allegory, fable, fairy story, fiction, folk tale, saga, story
- illusion, delusion, fancy, fantasy, figment, imagination, superstition, tall story

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Related Words: saga, fable, fabrication, fiction, figment, creation, invention

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English Thesaurus: floor, storey, the ground floor, the first floor, deck, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

myth /mɪθ/ noun [uncountable and countable]
[Date: 1800-1900; Language: Greek; Origin: mythos 'story, speech, myth']

1. an idea or story that many people believe, but which is not true Synonym : fallacy
myth of
the myth of male superiority
myth that
It was important to dispel the myth that Aids was a gay disease.

2. an ancient story, especially one invented in order to explain natural or historical events ⇒ mythology:
a book of Greek myths
myth of
the myth of Orpheus
the giants of myth and fairytale ⇒ urban myth

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

myth
noun
I. story from ancient times
ADJ. ancient, classical | religious | Christian, Greek, Norse, Roman, etc. | creation (= that explains how the world began) the creation myths of the Eskimos
PREP. ~ about the myth about the golden apple

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

myth
II. idea/belief which is untrue/impossible
ADJ. great There is a great myth that all sports players are stupid.
powerful | enduring, persistent | complete, total It's a complete myth that he has royal blood.
modern | folk, popular, widely held | national The battle has become part of national myth.
historical, political The propaganda of both sides relies heavily on historical myth.
heroic, romantic Propaganda has turned the former president into a heroic myth.
pernicious | cosy The film tears down the cosy myths about fair play in war.
VERB + MYTH create, cultivate, establish How did the myth get so firmly established in the popular consciousness?
counter, counteract | bury, debunk, destroy, dispel, dispose of, explode, lay to rest, puncture, scotch, tear down | feed, foster, keep alive, maintain, perpetuate, sustain | be based on People's faith in the Emperor was based on the myth that he was infallible.
MYTH + VERB surround sth trying to lay to rest the myths surrounding mental disabilities
persist The myth persists that men are more intelligent than women.
PREP. ~ about a popular myth about twins
~ of perpetuating the myth of racial superiority
PHRASES contrary to popular myth Contrary to popular myth, women are not worse drivers than men.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

myth

create a myth
Stalin created a lot of myths about himself.
believe a myth
People still believe the myth that money will bring them happiness.
explode/dispel/debunk a myth (=show that it is not true)
Our goal is to debunk the myth that science is boring.
perpetuate a myth (=make it continue)
Let’s stop perpetuating this myth.
a myth grows up (=starts)
A number of myths have grown up about their relationship.
a myth persists (=it continues)
The myth still persists that we need to build more roads.
myth has it that ... (=there is a myth that)
Myth had it that Mrs Thatcher only needed four hours sleep a night.
a common/popular myth (=that many people believe)
Contrary to popular myth, most road accidents are not the result of speeding.
a modern myth
Is it a modern myth that we are living in a classless society?
a powerful myth (=that has a lot of influence on people)
There is a powerful myth that crime has increased – in fact there was much more crime 100 years ago.
an enduring myth (=that has continued for a long time)
The idea that Kennedy was shot by the CIA is one of the enduring myths of our time.
be a complete/total myth
It’s a complete myth that eating carrots helps you to see in the dark.
be a bit of a myth (=be not really true)
The whole story is a bit of a myth.
the myths surrounding something (=relating to something)
the myths surrounding rural life

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

floor one of the levels in a building:
She lives in an apartment on the eighteenth floor.
storey British English, story American English used when saying how many levels a building has:
a five-storey car park
The school is a single storey building.
the ground floor (also the first floor American English) the floor of a building that is at ground level:
There is a shop on the ground floor.
The emergency room is on the first floor.
the first floor British English, the second floor American English the floor of a building above the one at ground level:
She lives on the first floor.
deck one of the levels on a ship, bus, or plane:
The Horizon Lounge is on the top deck of the ship.
a true story
‘Schindler’s List’ tells the true story of Oskar Schindler.
a classic story (=old and admired by many people, or typical and good )
a classic story about a little girl who falls down a rabbit hole
a short story
He has published two collections of short stories.
a children’s story
Enid Blyton is famous for writing children’s stories.
a love story
‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a classic love story.
a fairy story (=a children's story in which magical things happen)
She looked like a princess in a fairy story.
an adventure story
an exciting adventure story for children
a detective story
Most detective stories are about a murder.
a ghost/horror story
They sat round the fire telling ghost stories.
She likes reading horror stories.
a bedtime story (=one that you read to a child before they go to sleep)
He remembered his mother reading him a bedtime story.
tell (somebody) a story
Would you like me to tell you a story?
read (somebody) a story
She read a lot of detective stories.
write a story
The story was written by Lewis Carroll.
a big story (=a report about something important)
He had promised the newspaper a big story on a major celebrity.
the lead/top story (=the most important story in a newspaper or news programme)
The floods were the lead story on the news that evening.
a front-page story
The Times published a front-page story about the scandal.
a cover story (=the main story in a magazine, mentioned on the cover)
Hello magazine did a cover story on her last year.
do a story (=write and then print or broadcast it)
I went to Iraq to do a story on the war.
print/publish a story
The News of the World decided not to print the story.
run a story (=print it or broadcast it)
There wasn't enough definite information to run the story.
cover a story (=report on it)
Her family complained about the way that journalists had covered the story.
break a story (=report on it for the first time)
The Daily Mail was the paper which broke the story.
leak a story (=secretly tell a reporter about it)
We may never know who leaked the story to the press.
a story breaks (=it is reported for the first time)
I still remember the shock when that story broke.
story a description of how something happened that is intended to entertain people, and may be true or imaginary:
a ghost story
a love story
It’s a story about a man who loses his memory.
a book of short stories
tale a story about strange imaginary events, or exciting events that happened in the past:
a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen
I loved hearing tales of his travels.
myth noun [uncountable and countable] a very old imaginary story about gods and magical creatures:
an ancient myth
Greek and Roman myths
legend noun [uncountable and countable] an old story about brave people or magical events that are probably not true:
popular legends of the creation of the world
According to legend, King Arthur was buried there.
fable a traditional imaginary short story that teaches a moral lesson, especially a story about animals:
the fable of the tortoise and the hare
a Chinese fable
epic a story told in a long book, film, or poem which is about great or exciting events, especially in history:
an epic about 13th-century Scottish hero William Wallace
saga a story about a series of events that take place over a long period of time, especially events involving one family:
a family saga beginning in the 1880s
yarn informal a long exciting story that is not completely true:
The movie’s a rattling good yarn and full of action.
give (somebody) a story
I had the feeling that she wasn't giving me the full story.
hear a story (also listen to a story)
I’ve heard that story a hundred times.
make up/invent a story
She confessed to making up the story of being abducted.
stick to your story (=keep saying it is true)
He didn’t believe her at first, but she stuck to her story.
change your story
During police interviews, Harper changed his story several times.
believe a story
The jury did not believe Evans's story.
swap stories (=tell each other stories)
They swapped stories and shared their experiences.
the story goes (=this is what is people say happened)
The story goes that he was drowned off the south coast, but not everyone believed it.
a story goes around (=people tell it to each other)
A story went around that she had been having an affair.
the full/whole story
I did not know the full story.
a plausible/convincing story
She tried to think up a convincing story to tell her parents.
a remarkable story
The film tells the remarkable story of their escape from a prison camp.
an apocryphal story (=one that is well-known but probably not true)
There are many apocryphal stories about him.
the inside story (=including facts that are known only to people involved)
Though I’d seen the official report, I wanted the inside story.
sb’s side of the story (=someone’s account of what happened, which may be different from someone else’s)
I would like to give my side of the story.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

untrue [not usually before noun] not true, because the person does not know the facts, or because they are lying:
It is untrue that the college broke the terms of the contract.
The allegations are completely untrue.
false not true and not based on the facts, or not the real one:
The article gives a totally false impression of life in Russia today.
He gave a false name and address to the police.
Decide whether these statements are true or false.
something is not the case if what someone says or believes is happening is not the case, it is not happening and what they say or believe is not true:
Recent reports suggest that violent crime is increasing, but this is simply not the case.
People think there’s an endless supply of fish, but unfortunately that’s not the case.
misleading a misleading statement or piece of information makes people believe something that is not true, especially because it does not give all the facts:
The holiday brochure is deliberately misleading, because the hotels it shows are not the ones you actually stay in.
These statistics give a misleading impression of what is happening to the economy.
trumped-up trumped-up charges, accusations, evidence etc use information that is not true in order to make someone seem guilty of doing something wrong:
He had been arrested by the secret police on trumped-up charges of spying.
Zola believed that the case against Dreyfus was trumped-up and utterly false.
myth something a lot of people believe because they want to believe it, not because it is based on fact:
The first myth about motherhood is that new mothers instantly fall in love with their babies.
Contrary to popular myth, our streets are much safer now than they were 100 years ago.
illusion a belief or idea that is false, especially a belief in something good about yourself or about the situation you are in:
Alcohol gives people the illusion of being witty and confident.
People bought the land under the illusion that the value would increase.
misconception an idea that is not true but which people believe because they do not have all the facts, or they have not properly understood the situation:
It’s a common misconception that vaccinations given in childhood last for life.
Employers seem to share the general misconception that young people are more efficient than older workers.
delusion a completely mistaken idea, which affects your behaviour and what you decide to do:
He began to suffer from paranoid delusions.
Many people labour under the delusion (=have the delusion) that anything which says ‘natural ingredients’ on the label must be harmless.
the delusion that women control most of the world' s wealth and power
fallacy if you say that something is a fallacy, you mean that it is completely wrong to believe that it is true:
The idea that a good night’s sleep will cure everything is a complete fallacy.
It’s a fallacy that all fat people are fat simply because they eat too much.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲