apocryphal

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

This apocryphal lazybones is defined by two traits.

From Salon • Jan. 14, 2026

What defines him instead are various quips, mordant jokes and accounts of bizarre behavior, many no doubt apocryphal, recorded by his admirers and detractors in the centuries after his death.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 17, 2025

Much of “Flour” is concerned with the woman’s conversation with her driver about a parable from the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas that he is translating from Coptic—a tale, he says, about emptiness and unknowing.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025

Some see this as a new version of the apocryphal story of Nero fiddling while Rome burns.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 27, 2024

Alas, like many good stories this one appears to be apocryphal.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson