Anecdote
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A short account of a real incident or person, often humorous or interesting. countable, uncountable
"tell an anecdote"
- 2 short account of an incident (especially a biographical one) wordnet
- 3 An account which supports an argument, but which is not supported by scientific or statistical analysis. countable, uncountable
- 4 A previously untold secret account of an incident. countable, uncountable
- 1 To tell anecdotes (about). ambitransitive
"They were all men of the same set, knowing one another intimately, and knowing the same people; so they fell to talking and anecdoting in such pleasant wise that dinner-time approached […]"
Example
More examples"He began his lecture with a humorous anecdote."
Etymology
Late 17ᵗʰ c., from French anecdote, from Ancient Greek ἀνέκδοτος (anékdotos, “accounts unpublished”), from ἀν- (an-, “not, un-”) + ἔκδοτος (ékdotos, “published”), from ἐκδίδωμι (ekdídōmi, “I publish”), from ἐκ- (ek-, “out”) + δίδωμι (dídōmi, “I give”). Virtually identical cognates in other European languages – French anecdote, German Anekdote, Spanish anécdota, among others.
Related phrases
More for "anecdote"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.