"moral of the story" meaning in English

See moral of the story in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: morals of the story [plural], morals of the stories [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|morals of the story|morals of the stories}} moral of the story (plural morals of the story or morals of the stories), {{tlb|en|used with the}} (used with the)
  1. (idiomatic) The key lesson or message that an incident, situation or other happening conveys; a general takeaway point. Tags: idiomatic
    Sense id: en-moral_of_the_story-en-noun-QMbFgER~ Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 86 14 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 88 12 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 90 10 Synonyms: essence, quintessence, thrust, bowels, brass tacks, core, crux, deets [slang], details, essence, gist, guts, gravamen, heart, heart and soul, heartstring [archaic], heartstrings [archaic], inwardness [obsolete], kernel, marrow, meat, moral of the story [idiomatic], nitty-gritty, nub, nuts and bolts [idiomatic], pith [figuratively], punctum saliens, quintessence, soul, spirit, stuff, substance, tenor
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see moral, story; the ethical lesson to be learned from a fictional tale.
    Sense id: en-moral_of_the_story-en-noun-2pNPqh-6

Inflected forms

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      "form": "morals of the story",
      "tags": [
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    },
    {
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          "ref": "1992, David Pannick, Advocates:",
          "text": "The moral of the story — \"Wait till you're a big pot\" — is a sound one.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
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        [
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        "(idiomatic) The key lesson or message that an incident, situation or other happening conveys; a general takeaway point."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "used with the"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "essence"
        },
        {
          "word": "quintessence"
        },
        {
          "word": "thrust"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "bowels"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "brass tacks"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "core"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "crux"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "tags": [
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          "word": "deets"
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          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "details"
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        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "essence"
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        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "gist"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "guts"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "gravamen"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "heart"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "heart and soul"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "tags": [
            "archaic"
          ],
          "word": "heartstring"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "tags": [
            "archaic"
          ],
          "word": "heartstrings"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "tags": [
            "obsolete"
          ],
          "word": "inwardness"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "kernel"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "marrow"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "meat"
        },
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          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "tags": [
            "idiomatic"
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          "word": "moral of the story"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "nitty-gritty"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "nub"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "tags": [
            "idiomatic"
          ],
          "word": "nuts and bolts"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "tags": [
            "figuratively"
          ],
          "word": "pith"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "punctum saliens"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "quintessence"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "soul"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "spirit"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "stuff"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "substance"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "tenor"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
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      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see moral, story; the ethical lesson to be learned from a fictional tale."
      ],
      "id": "en-moral_of_the_story-en-noun-2pNPqh-6",
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        ]
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "used with the"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "moral of the story"
}
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  "forms": [
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      ],
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        "(idiomatic) The key lesson or message that an incident, situation or other happening conveys; a general takeaway point."
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        "used with the"
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          "word": "essence"
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        {
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        {
          "word": "thrust"
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        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "bowels"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "brass tacks"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "core"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "crux"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "tags": [
            "slang"
          ],
          "word": "deets"
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          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "details"
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          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "essence"
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          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "gist"
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          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "guts"
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        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "gravamen"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "heart"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "heart and soul"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "tags": [
            "archaic"
          ],
          "word": "heartstring"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "tags": [
            "archaic"
          ],
          "word": "heartstrings"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "tags": [
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          ],
          "word": "inwardness"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "kernel"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "marrow"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "meat"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "tags": [
            "idiomatic"
          ],
          "word": "moral of the story"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "nitty-gritty"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "nub"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "tags": [
            "idiomatic"
          ],
          "word": "nuts and bolts"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "tags": [
            "figuratively"
          ],
          "word": "pith"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "punctum saliens"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "quintessence"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "soul"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "spirit"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "stuff"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "substance"
        },
        {
          "source": "Thesaurus:gist",
          "word": "tenor"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
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        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see moral, story; the ethical lesson to be learned from a fictional tale."
      ],
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      "raw_tags": [
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  "word": "moral of the story"
}

Download raw JSONL data for moral of the story meaning in English (3.5kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-06-07 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-06-01 using wiktextract (92124b4 and f1c2b61). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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