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

There is an apocryphal story that as the book landed on desks around Hollywood, everyone flipped to the index to see what Phillips had written about them.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2024

A good instance comes in the form of an apocryphal story.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith