How to Use sob story in a Sentence

sob story

noun
  • I don't want to hear any of your sob stories.
  • She told a sob story about how she had to starve herself to pay for the rent.
  • This isn’t the first time Noa has brought up his ex with a sob story.
    — Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 20 Oct. 2025
  • A lot of actors have a sob story or a school-of-hard-knocks story.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 16 Sep. 2023
  • But enough with my sob story which deprived me of my rightful brilliance!
    — Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 3 Aug. 2012
  • That deal is named after a game show in which housewives would tell sob stories in exchange for prizes.
    — Jeremy Stahl, Slate Magazine, 20 June 2017
  • Don’t fall for every sob story, and don’t let someone guilt-trip you out of your boundaries.
    — Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 12 Oct. 2025
  • The half-million-dollar sob story.
    — Jim Edwards, Fortune, 6 May 2026
  • McKinney played out a sob story about his wife leaving him for his brother.
    — oregonlive.com, 20 June 2019
  • No one wants to hear another sob story about the middle class Black kid who grew up around white people.
    — Kathleen Newman-Bremang, refinery29.com, 1 Feb. 2022
  • But this is not a sob story, or autism explainer, or an after-school special about tolerance.
    — Los Angeles Times, 18 Nov. 2021
  • These sob stories are designed to shut down legitimate oversight of how public tax dollars are spent.
    — Scott Walter, Baltimore Sun, 12 July 2025
  • Emily has a hell of a sob story, though her natural discretion and refusal of self-pity keep it from sounding like one.
    — Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 11 Aug. 2022
  • Unfortunately for them, the host wasn't having any of their sob story though, and brutally shut down their claims.
    — Amy MacKelden, Marie Claire, 26 Mar. 2018
  • Don’t spin a sob story or ratchet up the excuses even if a Black Swan event did somehow cause your delay.
    — Mark Antonio Wright, National Review, 25 Apr. 2021
  • Bluntly, a great personal essay should be a bit of a sob story, but this is something many Africans will struggle to do well.
    — Ciku Kimeria, Quartz, 6 Apr. 2022
  • The same can’t be said for the state of Oregon’s overall budget, which doesn’t make for a sob story to present to Congress.
    — oregonlive, 9 Dec. 2020
  • Better that the Democrat media stick to sob stories about cuddly animals.
    — Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 3 Aug. 2025
  • Someone may use a sob story or a guilt trip to pressure you into handling their responsibilities for them.
    — oregonlive, 17 Apr. 2020
  • But the change of clothes did not hide the horrors the girl had gone through, and Candelario’s sob story started unraveling.
    — Faith Karimi, CNN, 20 Mar. 2024
  • Andy’s backstory elevates the book above a sob story–but redemption, recovery and hope remain the name of the game.
    — Sarah Begley, Time, 29 Mar. 2018
  • Granted, $7 million with performance incentives is a galaxy away from a sob story.
    — Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Apr. 2024
  • Blue tears drip down my face, like some kind of SciFi sob story, while the formula neutralizes any hints of yellow or redness.
    — Kaitlin Phillips, Vogue, 23 Oct. 2020
  • Neither does Helen who is uninterested in Wendy’s sob stories about her brother.
    — Shannon Carlin, refinery29.com, 30 Mar. 2020
  • Yuudai’s sob story touched Shion, who’s now vowed to always ask Yuudai to prepare meals for him, all in the name of practice.
    — Mariah Smith, The Cut, 2 Apr. 2018
  • On top of this, Tina has opened a new fundraising page with a sob story about her cancer returning and being hospitalized about a week before that request.
    — Jeanne Phillips, Mercury News, 10 Mar. 2026
  • This was a big, fat softball thrown right over the middle of the plate for all three finalists — a chance to show off a personal sob story and connect with the jury on a deeply emotional level.
    — Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 18 Dec. 2025
  • Acknowledging people with disabilities is neither a charitable act nor even the basis of a compelling sob story.
    — Caroline Casey, Fortune, 2 Aug. 2022
  • The Replacements have gotten burdened with the mythos of a sob story, a woulda-coulda-shoulda band of beautiful losers who tumbled off the ladder of success, boo hoo.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 25 Sep. 2023
  • From there, we’re treated to Clark’s memory of hearing Carol’s domestic sob story right after a thorough pegging.
    — Andy Andersen, Vulture, 16 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sob story.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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