anecdote definition
a short account of a particular incident or event, especially of an interesting or amusing nature. 2. a short, obscure historical or biographical account. Origin of anecdote. French. The roots of anecdote lie in the Greek word anekdota, meaning unpublished.. The word's original sense in English was secret or private stories — tales not fit for print, so to speak. It can still have connotations of unreliability, as in the phrase anecdotal information.. (ăn′ĭk-dōt′) n. 1. A short account of an interesting or humorous incident. 2. pl. an·ec·dotes or an·ec·do·ta (-dō′tə) Secret or hitherto undivulged particulars of history or biography. British English: anecdote NOUN. An anecdote is a short, amusing account of something that has happened.He was telling them an anecdote about their mother. It was an anecdote, then current, to the effect that the Duc d'Enghien had gone secretly to Paris to visit Mademoiselle George; that at her house he came upon Bonaparte, who also enjoyed the famous actress' favors, and that in his presence Napoleon happened to fall into one of the fainting fits to which he was subject, and was thus at the duc's ... a short usually amusing account of an incident, esp a personal or biographical one. [C17: from Medieval Latin anecdota unpublished items, from Greek anekdotos unpublished, from an- + ekdotos published, from ekdidonai, from ek- out + didonai to give] ˌanecˈdotic adj. A short, amusing true story is an anecdote. You might come back from a crazy spring break with a lot of anecdotes to tell. /ˌænɪkˈdoʊtl̟/ adjective [more anecdotal; most anecdotal] 1  I enjoyed the book's anecdotal style. 2  His conclusions are not supported by data; they are based only on anecdotal evidence. [=evidence in the form of stories that people tell about what has happened to them] anecdote - short account of an incident (especially a biographical one) report, account - the act of informing by verbal report; he heard reports that they were causing trouble; by all accounts they were a happy couple. An anecdote is a short, amusing account of something that has happened. Pete was telling them an anecdote about their mother. He has a talent for recollection and anecdote. Synonyms: story, tale, sketch, short story More Synonyms of anecdote. 2. variable noun. Anecdotes are individual accounts of something that are not reliable evidence. The image of the fox as a pest is grossly exaggerated in anecdote and folklore.
A short, amusing account of something that has happened.