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narrative
/ˈnær.ə.tɪv/
story or account
The novel has a complex narrative.
The novel tells a complicated story.
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
Antonyms
Related Phrases
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