fiction

fic·tion

noun \ˈfik-shən\

Definition of FICTION

1

a : something invented by the imagination or feigned; specifically : an invented story b : fictitious literature (as novels or short stories) c : a work of fiction; especially : novel

2

a : an assumption of a possibility as a fact irrespective of the question of its truth <a legal fiction> b : a useful illusion or pretense

3

: the action of feigning or of creating with the imagination

— fic·tion·al \-shnəl, -shə-n^əl\ adjective

— fic·tion·al·i·ty \ˌfik-shə-ˈna-lə-tē\ noun

— fic·tion·al·ly \ˈfik-shnə-lē, -shə-n^əl-ē\ adverb

Examples of FICTION

1. She believes the fiction that crime rates are up.
2. <most stories about famous outlaws of the Old West are fictions that have little or nothing to do with fact>

Origin of FICTION

Middle English ficcioun, from Middle French fiction, from Latin fiction-, fictio act of fashioning, fiction, from fingere to shape, fashion, feign — more at dough

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to FICTION

Synonyms: fable, fabrication, fantasy (also phantasy), figment, invention

Antonyms: fact, materiality, reality

Related Words: anecdote, narrative, novel, story, tale, yarn; fairy tale, falsehood, falsity, fib, lie, mendacity, misrepresentation, prevarication, untruth, whopper; make-believe

Near Antonyms: actuality, realness

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Other Literature Terms

apophasis, bathos, bildungsroman, bowdlerize, caesura, coda, doggerel, euphemism, poesy, prosody

Rhymes with FICTION

diction, friction, stiction