fiction

noun fic·tion \ ˈfik-shən \

Updated on: 16 Apr 2018

Definition of fiction

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

b : fictitious literature (such as novels or short stories)

was renowned as a writer of fiction

c : a work of fiction; especially : novel

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

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

3 : the action of feigning or of creating with the imagination

She engaged in fiction to escape painful realities.

—

fictional

play \ˈfik-shnəl, -shə-nᵊl\ adjective

—

fictionality

play \ˌfik-shə-ˈna-lə-tē\ noun

—

fictionally

play \ˈfik-shnə-lē, -shə-nᵊl-ē\ adverb

See fiction defined for English-language learners

See fiction defined for kids

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 of fiction from the Web

Once, such a thing would have clearly been the stuff of fiction.

— justin bachman, Anchorage Daily News, "New luxury hotel will cost $792,000 a night – and be 200 miles up," 9 Apr. 2018
Similarly, the book reintroduces several characters who in their day numbered among the most popular in all of fiction, although some of them underwent radical transformations.

— chris gray, Houston Chronicle, "Crime-fiction kingpin Otto Penzler dusts off history’s great ‘Rogues and Villains’," 7 Apr. 2018
Once, such a thing would have clearly been the stuff of fiction.

— Fortune, "This $792,000-a-Night Luxury Hotel Will Orbit 200 Miles Above Earth," 6 Apr. 2018
Victor Hugo's novel of the same name is considered one of history's greatest works of fiction.

— jeffrey lee puckett, The Courier-Journal, "Broadway's 'Les Misérables' returns to Louisville as its popularity surges again," 3 Apr. 2018
Though the tale of the ambitious, controversial Mahoney political clan—particularly cool-as-a-cucumber governor’s daughter Katie Mahoney Brown—is truly a delight, and squarely a work of fiction.

— jessica knoll, Glamour, "The Governor’s Daughter Has a Big Problem," 20 Mar. 2018
Uzbek fiction is unknown to most English-language readers.

— The Economist, "A beguiling tale of khans, commissars, spies and poet-queens," 15 Mar. 2018
They have been put there by black writers well aware that speculative fiction has always been about more than magic and clever devices.

— vann r. newkirk ii, The Atlantic, "Where Fantasy Meets Black Lives Matter," 6 Mar. 2018
Robinson’s fiction is as rooted in theology as her nonfiction.

— sarah begley, Time, "Marilynne Robinson on What It Means to Be a Christian in Trump's America," 1 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fiction.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of fiction

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

fiction Synonyms

Other Literature Terms

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

FICTION Defined for English Language Learners

fiction

noun

Definition of fiction for English Language Learners

: written stories about people and events that are not real : literature that tells stories which are imagined by the writer
: something that is not true

FICTION Defined for Kids

fiction

noun fic·tion \ ˈfik-shən \

Definition of fiction for Students

1 : something told or written that is not fact

2 : a made-up story

3 : works of literature that are not true stories

Word Root of fiction

The Latin word fingere, meaning “to shape” or “to mold,” and its form fictus give us the roots fig and fict. Words from the Latin fingere have something to do with shaping. The figure of something, especially a person's body, is its shape. To disfigure is to change the shape and ruin the looks of something. Fiction is something written that is not fact but is shaped by the imagination.