Narrateto tell a story or explain events as they happen means to tell a story or describe events in detail. It can also mean to provide spoken commentaryspoken explanation or remarks about what is happening, such as in a film or documentarya nonfiction film that presents facts about real events or people.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-17. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Pronunciation
AI-generated pronunciation audio (OpenAI).
Accent: General American English
IPA: /nærˈeɪt/
Easy pronunciation: nar-ATE (approximate spelling).
Stress: Stress the second syllable: rate.
Primary sense: to tell a story or describe events in detail.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: uncertain — manual review needed. Checked: 2026-10-17. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Narrate Meaning
to tell what happened
Part of speech: verb
Definition: To tell a story or describe events in detail.
Example: She narrates the story in a calm, clear voice.
Synonyms for this meaning:
- recount — Works well for telling events in detail.
- tell — A broad, common substitute when speaking about telling a story.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-17. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Other Meanings of Narrate
Meaning 2
to speak the commentary for something
Part of speech: verb
Definition: To provide spoken commentary for a film, documentary, or similar production.
Example: He narrated the documentary about life in the Arctic.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-17. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Narrate Synonyms
Similar Meaning
- recount
- tell
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-17. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Common Mistakes
- Do not confuse narrate with recite, which usually means to say words aloud from memory.
- The film-related meaning is different from the storytelling meaning, so their synonyms should not be mixed.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-17. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does narrate mean?
Narrate usually means to tell a story or describe events in detail. It can also mean to provide commentary for a film or documentary.
What are the synonyms of narrate?
Common synonyms of narrate in the storytelling sense include recount and tell. In the commentary sense, there usually are no direct everyday synonyms listed from the supplied data.
Is narrate the same as recite?
No. Recite usually means to say words aloud, often from memory, while narrate means to tell or describe events.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-17. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
