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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

sob story en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (derogatory, idiomatic) A sad story, especially one intended to elicit sympathy.
    • Mr. Martin objected at first to the bastardization of my talent, but I gave him a sob story about needing money for lessons. 2006, Keith Donohue, The Stolen Child, →ISBN, page 56:
    • "Dis picture is called De Tale o' Two Cities, and it's de French revolution. It's about a feller vot takes anodder feller's place and gits his head cut off; and say, dere's a sob story in it vot's a vunder." 1922, Upton Sinclair, chapter 14, in They call Me Carpenter:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
sob stories Number=Plur lexicographic

Relateds

tearjerker · tale of woe

Translations (12)

nl tranentrekker (sad story) · sv snyfthistoria (sad story) · fr histoire à faire pleurer dans les chaumières (sad story) · sv snyftare (sad story) · ja お涙頂戴 (sad story) · pl łzawa historyjka (sad story) · de Schmachtfetzen (sad story) · de Schnulze (sad story) · fr histoire larmoyante (sad story) · ro poveste lacrimogenă (sad story) · fi nyyhkytarina (sad story) · nl smartlap (sad story)