narrative

/ˈnær.ə.tɪv/
nounIntermediate story or account
formalliterary

A spoken or written account of connected events; a story.

The documentary presents a compelling narrative of the city's history.

The documentary tells an engaging story about the city's past.

💡

Often used in academic, literary, or journalistic contexts.

literary

Relating to the structure or style of storytelling.

Her narrative voice is calm and reflective.

Her storytelling style is calm and reflective.

💡

Used as an adjective to describe techniques, voice, or perspective.

Collocations

narrative structurethe organized framework of a storynarrative voicethe perspective from which a story is toldnarrative arcthe progression of a story from beginning to end

Related Phrases

narrative arcphrase
the overall shape of a story from start to finish

📖Word Origin

From Latin narrativus, from narrare ‘to tell’, derived from narr- ‘to relate’.

📝Usage Notes

Use ‘narrative’ for formal or analytical descriptions of a story; for casual speech, ‘story’ is often preferred.

English Dictionary