once upon a time
Fairy tale start
Once upon a time is the traditional opening of fairy tales and folk stories, signaling entry into a world of fantasy and make-believe: Once upon a time, there lived a princess in a tall tower.
The phrase places events in an indefinite, distant past.
Used outside storytelling, it suggests something that was once true but no longer is: Once upon a time, this neighborhood was safe.
- long agoIn the distant past
- fairy taleMagical children's narrative
- princessMonarch's daughter or heir
- glass slipperTransparent formal footwear from folklore
- wicked stepmotherFolkloric maternal villain
way back · bedtime stories · nursery tales · bygone · happily ever after · folklore · storybook · magic · oral tradition · ago · enchantment · true love's kiss · storytelling · forest · classic tales · imagination · make believe · enchanted forests
- bedtime storiesGoodnight Moon, storybook, fairy tale, lullaby, storytime
- beginning phrasesin the beginning, first of all, to start with, to begin with, first off
- folklore of childhoodnursery rhymes, fairy tales, lullabies, bedtime stories, folktales
- poetic phraseshappily ever after, star-crossed lovers, sweet sorrow, eternal flame, golden hour
- stock phrasesstock phrase, set phrase, cliche, catchphrase, filler phrase
- story phraseshappily ever after, the end, long ago, in the beginning, far far away
once upon a timeright now
At the present moment
here and now · today · as we speak · currently · in real time
once upon a timebreaking news
Newly unfolding events reported
based on a true story · as a matter of fact · in point of fact · dateline · eyewitness account
time, once, upon, times, timeless, timely, timetable, untimely, overtime