Apocryphal describes a story that's widely told and sounds like it could be true, but probably isn't. These stories float around as if they're facts, even though no one can prove they actually happened.

You've probably heard the apocryphal tale about George Washington chopping down a cherry tree and confessing, “I cannot tell a lie.” It's a charming story about honesty, but historians have found no evidence it ever happened. Someone made it up years after Washington died, yet people still repeat it as if it were real history.

Apocryphal stories often carry a lesson or make someone look heroic, which helps them spread. They're different from deliberate lies because the people sharing them usually believe they're true. They're also different from myths or legends because apocryphal stories pretend to be historical facts about real people.

When you call a story apocryphal, you're politely saying, “That's a great tale, but it's almost certainly not what really happened.” It's a useful word for those moments when someone insists that Einstein failed math class or that people used to think the Earth was flat. Those stories? Probably apocryphal.