ENGLISH
REFERENCE

narrative

n. countable
B1 Intermediate Oxford US //ˈnæɹətɪv// UK //nˈæɹətˌɪv// nar·ra·tive General-service

n. a story or a description of a series of events. You often hear this word when people talk about the specific way a story is told or the message it tries to send.

n. a spoken or written account of connected events. In contemporary usage, it frequently represents a particular way of explaining events that reflects a specific perspective or ideology.


SIMPLE

The author weaves a thrilling narrative about a journey to Mars.

CONTEXTUAL

The politician tried to change the media narrative by focusing on his recent successes rather than his past mistakes.

COMPLEX

The documentary challenges the dominant historical narrative by centering the voices of indigenous populations who were previously excluded from the official record.

Synonyms
Origin

Borrowed from Middle Scots narrative, nerrative, from Middle French narratif, from Latin narrātīvus, from narrō (“to narrate”).

Usage

Often modified by adjectives like 'dominant', 'false', or 'historical' to describe how a group perceives a set of events.

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