Meaning & use
anecdote
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Meanings
nouncountable
A brief, amusing or interesting story about something that really happened to someone.
Grammar: Countable: tell an anecdote, several anecdotes.
Patterns
- an anecdote about someone
- tell an anecdote
He opened the speech with a funny anecdote about his first day at work.
My grandfather had an anecdote for every occasion.
The biography is full of anecdotes about the author's childhood.
nouncountable
A personal account used as evidence, which may not be reliable because it is based on one case rather than careful study.
Grammar: Often contrasted with data: anecdote versus evidence.
Patterns
- based on anecdote
One neighbor's anecdote is not proof that the medicine works.
Scientists prefer data to anecdote.
The article relied on anecdotes rather than research.
Word forms
| plural | anecdotes |
|---|
Common combinations
- tell an anecdote
- The teacher liked to tell an anecdote to make a point.
- amusing anecdote
- She shared an amusing anecdote about her travels.
- personal anecdote
- He illustrated the idea with a personal anecdote.
- anecdote about
- There is a famous anecdote about the inventor's first test.
- anecdotal evidence
- Anecdotal evidence suggests the new route is faster.
Synonyms and how they differ
- story
- Story is the general word and may be invented, while an anecdote is short and usually true.
- tale
- Tale sounds more old-fashioned or imaginative, whereas anecdote is a real, brief account.
- account
- Account is a neutral report of events and does not have to be entertaining like an anecdote.
- yarn
- Yarn is informal and suggests a long, possibly exaggerated tale.
Opposites
Word family
- anecdotal adjective
- based on personal stories rather than facts or research
- anecdotally adverb
- in a way based on individual stories
- anecdotist noun
- a person who tells anecdotes
Commonly confused: anecdote or antidote?
anecdote vs antidote
An antidote is a remedy against poison, whereas an anecdote is a short story.
Practice
Which word fits? The speaker began with a short, funny ____ about his dog.
Choose one answer.
An anecdote is a short story about real events. Antidote is a similar-sounding word meaning a remedy for poison, which is the tempting wrong choice.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “anecdote”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.