To tell an account or story again, often with changes of wording, perspective or emphasis.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- retell a story
- retell an event
On the page
She retold the event from the perspective of the person who had arrived last.
The adaptation retells the story while shifting its attention to a minor character.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- retell
- Past tense
- retold
- Past participle
- retold
- Present participle
- retelling
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- retell
- Present continuous
- am/is/are retelling
- Present perfect
- have/has retold
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been retelling
- Past
- retold
- Past continuous
- was/were retelling
- Past perfect
- had retold
- Past perfect continuous
- had been retelling
- Future
- will retell
- Future continuous
- will be retelling
- Future perfect
- will have retold
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been retelling
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: retell; retells; retold; retold; retelling Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: narrative transformation, conception and possibility, memory representation, anticipatory detail. Disciplines: literary writing, advanced general English, narrative analysis. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: retells.
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