fiction

noun

fic·tion ˈfik-shən

Synonyms of fiction next

: something invented by the imagination or feigned

specifically : an invented story

… I'd found out that the story of the ailing son was pure fiction. —

Andrew A. Rooney

: fictitious literature (such as novels or short stories)

was renowned as a writer of fiction

: a work of fiction

especially : novel

Her latest work is a fiction set during the Civil War.

: an assumption of a possibility as a fact irrespective of the question of its truth

a legal fiction

: a useful illusion or pretense

it was only a fiction of independence his mother gave him; he was almost totally under her power—

G. A. Wagner

: the action of feigning or of creating with the imagination

She engaged in fiction to escape painful realities.

fictionality

ˌfik-shə-ˈna-lə-tē

noun

Example Sentences

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

Recent Examples on the Web Some of them promise to provide what contemporary fiction can do so well: bracing, arresting stories that distill something previously unseen or unarticulated about modern culture. —

Vulture, 28 Aug. 2023 Last year, Fremantle completed eight acquisitions, including Italian fiction producer Lux Vide, film and drama production company Element Pictures, and documentary producers 72 Films and Wildstar Films. —

Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Aug. 2023 Here, Barry reaches deep into the messenger bag of mystery fiction and turns the whole business inside out to show the soft suede of its lining and the loosening stitches of the seams. —

Washington Post Staff, Washington Post, 25 Aug. 2023 Combining magical realism with historical fiction, two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward’s fourth novel tells the story of Annis, an enslaved girl in the antebellum South. —

Shannon Carlin, Time, 23 Aug. 2023 Mardenborough’s story is one where truth is stranger than fiction. —

Odie Henderson, BostonGlobe.com, 23 Aug. 2023 By first exploding its internal differences and then annealing them in imaginative fictions at best loosely based in history—exactly as was done in this country for so long—a coherently incoherent tale gets told. —

Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2023 Enter Email Sign Up Generative AI has the ability to create text, images, audio, and video on command, but isn’t yet fully capable of distinguishing between fact and fiction. —

David Bauder, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Aug. 2023 But Edwards also is an accomplished crime fiction author. —

Karen MacPherson, Washington Post, 17 Aug. 2023 See More

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

Word History

Etymology

Middle English ficcioun "invention of the mind," borrowed from Middle French fiction, borrowed from Latin fictiōn-, fictiō "action of shaping or molding, feigning, pretense, legal fiction," from fig-, variant stem of fingere "to mold, fashion, make a likeness of, pretend to be" + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of verbal action — more at feign

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler

The first known use of fiction was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century