Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use retell in a sentence

11 example sentences · verb

Retell means to tell again, often differently, what one has read or heard; to paraphrase. Example: “She will retell the story from her perspective in the next meeting.”

Examples of retell by meaning

verbTo tell again, often differently, what one has read or heard; to paraphrase.

  • She will retell the story from her perspective in the next meeting.
  • He had to retell the story several times before it was understood.
  • The author decided to retell the classic fairy tale with a modern twist.

More sentences with retell

  • He retold it to me at my opa’s funeral, about half a century after the game.2020, Alexander Starritt, We Germans, London: John Murray (Publishers), →ISBN. From the entry opa
  • Now, in this first ever feline gospel, they retell 50 popular Bible stories in LOLspeak.2010, Martin Grondin, LOLcat Bible: In Teh Beginnin Ceiling Cat Maded Teh Skiez An Da Urfs N Stuffs, →ISBN. From the entry lolspeak
  • Once oral stories are learned, they can be retold through storyknifing, song, and dance.1997, Nancy H. Hornberger, Indigenous Literacies in the Americas, →ISBN. From the entry storyknifing
  • Reminds me somehow of Ian Banks' books that must be something like retold dreams, too.1995 September, Franz H. Milkis, “Ook Ook, Slobber Drool! Letters of Comment”, in The Space Cadet Gazette, number 3, page 28. From the entry bhoy
  • In most dialects, the historical present is used quite freely to convey the sense of more vivid narrative, to retell dreams, plots, tell jokes, etc.1972, William Labov, Language in the Inner City: Studies in the Black English, page 47. From the entry historical present
  • In a province with a long and dangerous maritime history, the Baltic's grounding in the roiling shallows of Cedar Cove last February is a story Newfoundlanders retell with incredulity.2025 December 29, Lindsay Jones, “A Newfoundland winter brings new risks to Coast Guard's biggest-ever operation. Crews at mercy of the…. From the entry container
  • A child can make up the truth about the doctor just as well as, or better than, he can observe and retell the truth about the doctor.1994, Susan Rusinko, The Plays of Benn Levy: Between Shaw and Coward, page 201. From the entry doctorishness
  • Even today, Devin’s story is told and retold in the local whiskeries and his critics secretly wish he would come swaggering back with another bombastic plan to enhance their wealth.1968, Bob Davis, The Dingle War, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., page 1. From the entry whiskery

Meaning of retell

  1. verb To tell again, often differently, what one has read or heard; to paraphrase.

Full definition of retell

Questions about retell in a sentence

How do you use retell in a sentence?
Retell is used as a verb. For example: “She will retell the story from her perspective in the next meeting.”
What is a short sentence with retell?
“He had to retell the story several times before it was understood.”
What does retell mean?
Retell means to tell again, often differently, what one has read or heard; to paraphrase.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: retell (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use retell in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/retell. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.