Dictionary Home » Dictionary Definitions » short story

short story

The definition of a short story is a piece of fiction that has a limited number of words, only a few characters and one theme.

(noun)

An example of short story is The Gift of the Magi.

See short story in Webster's New World College Dictionary

a kind of story shorter than the novel or novelette, characteristically developing a single central theme and limited in scope and number of characters

See short story in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

A short piece of prose fiction, having few characters and aiming at unity of effect.

Learn more about short story

short story in a sentence

Related Articles

Examples of Short Stories

Lesson Plans on Writing Short Stories

Gift of the Magi Literary Terms

link/cite print suggestion box

More from YD

» more results...