1
a
: 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
Andrew A. Rooney
b
: fictitious literature (such as novels or short stories)
was renowned as a writer of fiction
c
: a work of fiction
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
it was only a fiction of independence his mother gave him; he was almost totally under her power—G. A. Wagner
G. A. Wagner3
: the action of feigning or of creating with the imagination
She engaged in fiction to escape painful realities.
Examples of fiction in a Sentence
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
In this fiction, the Crusades were not waged against Moors, but against elves – a race said to devour the flesh of humans, among other atrocities that are neither confirmed nor denied by the end of the story.
—Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 17 May 2025
And the contemporary women’s fiction category, where Reid is often listed, ended 2024 with a nearly 30% increase in sales over 2019 numbers, according to analyst Kristen McLean.
—Lucy Feldman, Time, 15 May 2025
Blending truth and fiction, the reader is in good hands no matter Lacey’s subject.
—Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2025
Roy, however, examines the fiction and letters Woolf composed when he was stationed in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) as a colonial magistrate at the outer periphery of the British empire.
—Jenny Noyce, JSTOR Daily, 14 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for fiction
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Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 17 May 2025
And the contemporary women’s fiction category, where Reid is often listed, ended 2024 with a nearly 30% increase in sales over 2019 numbers, according to analyst Kristen McLean.
—Lucy Feldman, Time, 15 May 2025
Blending truth and fiction, the reader is in good hands no matter Lacey’s subject.
—Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2025
Roy, however, examines the fiction and letters Woolf composed when he was stationed in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) as a colonial magistrate at the outer periphery of the British empire.
—Jenny Noyce, JSTOR Daily, 14 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for fiction
Cite this Entry
“Fiction.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fiction. Accessed 29 May. 2025.
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