as in fictional
not real and existing only in the imagination
his wartime exploits turned out to be entirely fictitious, as he had never even been in the military
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Recent Examples of fictitious
In prison, Molina uses his imagination to retreat into the comfort of his favorite movie, starring fictitious silver screen diva Ingrid Luna (Jennifer Lopez, to get through the horrors of Argentina’s repressive regime.
—
Nicole Acevedo, NBC news, 9 Oct. 2025
Supervisors Janet Nguyen and Don Wagner raised concerns at the board’s Tuesday meeting about fictitious registrations following recent news of a dog that was registered to vote in two recent state elections and a lawsuit by the federal government over noncitizen voter records.
—Claire Wang, Oc Register, 24 Sep. 2025
Moore plays the fictitious Barbara Gucci, head of Gucci International and chairman of California — an undercurrent of humor runs throughout the film.
—Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 23 Sep. 2025
In January, Moscow cut off the gas deliveries that had long powered Moldova’s electricity generation, using as an excuse a fictitious debt to its Gazprom state energy company.
—Dan Perry, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fictitious
Nicole Acevedo, NBC news, 9 Oct. 2025
Supervisors Janet Nguyen and Don Wagner raised concerns at the board’s Tuesday meeting about fictitious registrations following recent news of a dog that was registered to vote in two recent state elections and a lawsuit by the federal government over noncitizen voter records.
—Claire Wang, Oc Register, 24 Sep. 2025
Moore plays the fictitious Barbara Gucci, head of Gucci International and chairman of California — an undercurrent of humor runs throughout the film.
—Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 23 Sep. 2025
In January, Moscow cut off the gas deliveries that had long powered Moldova’s electricity generation, using as an excuse a fictitious debt to its Gazprom state energy company.
—Dan Perry, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fictitious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fictitious
Adjective
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First, and perhaps most obvious, the fictional thriller draws inspiration from the Manson Family's home invasion and murder of Sharon Tate and her friends, Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger and Wojciech Frykowski, as well as Steven Parent, who was visiting the home's caretaker.—
Stephanie Sengwe,
PEOPLE,
25 Oct. 2025
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The Heart of the Ocean may be fictional, but its legend feels real—modeled loosely on the Hope Diamond.—
Lilah Ramzi,
Vogue,
25 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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In those meetings, our would-be bosses told us to make mock phone calls to prospective clients to gauge our ability to convince strangers about the merit of an imaginary product.—
Snigdha Poonam,
The Dial,
28 Oct. 2025
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Each one was built by a Ramona family, less to keep away any errant birds from imaginary crops at the Grange parking lot, but more to celebrate fall and enjoy a family collaboration.—
Regina Elling,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
28 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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That suits its otherworldly and somewhat formal tone, which takes viewers deep into Japan’s mythical past for a quartet of eerie tales about lonely ghosts and vengeful spirits who bring supernatural justice to selfish and immoral humans.—
Katie Rife,
Entertainment Weekly,
30 Oct. 2025
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Mateus’s approach to the declamation of text by nonprofessional actors finds its roots in movies by Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet, while her mythic, loamy exploration of the lives of the poor through history follows in the footsteps of the Portuguese director Pedro Costa.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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On the surface, the glorious black-and-white concoction, which had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last May, tells the (mostly imagined) story of the making of Jean-Luc Godard’s epoch-defining 1960 movie, Breathless.—
Tomris Laffly,
Vogue,
23 Oct. 2025
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The rules of fiction require me to do this indirectly, constructing a narrator—whether a character or an imagined voice—to deliver the text at hand.—
Vauhini Vara,
The Atlantic,
16 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fictitious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fictitious. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.
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