war story

noun

: a story of a memorable personal experience typically involving an element of danger, hardship, or adventure

politicians swapping war stories from past campaigns

Did you know?

People have been telling stories about real wars since long before Washington Irving wrote the following in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: "folks . . . sat smoking at one end of the piazza, . . . drawing out long stories about the war." But today tellers of "war stories" need not have experienced a literal battlefield. Around the middle of the 19th century, "war story" took on a more figurative meaning, and nowadays such accounts can encompass challenges in the workplace, on the campaign trail, in sports, in one's travels . . . wherever difficulties need to be overcome.

Examples of war story in a Sentence

He liked to tell war stories from his life as a sea captain.

We exchanged war stories about our time as interns at the same company.

Recent Examples on the Web

Mentoring isn’t about sharing war stories, or telling people how to live their lives. —Chris Westfall, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2025

It’s circulated on other social media websites, including the Charlotte subreddit, where people have made comments ranging from excitement to sharing their own war stories from driving on I-277. —Jeff A. Chamer, Charlotte Observer, 5 Feb. 2025

Serve up in a stemmed glass, and garnish with a scowl, or perhaps a war story. —Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 7 Feb. 2025

Here, Roven gives Deadline readers a look at an array of his highs and lows, with epic war stories that formed the hard shell of a producer’s producer. —Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 5 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1970, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for war story

• aurore
• forbore
• outlawry
• pylori
• savoury
• signori
• signory
• vainglory
• accusatory
• admonitory
• ambulatory
• amendatory

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