fiction

noun

ˈfik-shən How to pronounce fiction (audio)
Definition of fictionnext
as in fantasy
something that is the product of the imagination most stories about famous outlaws of the Old West are fictions that have little or nothing to do with fact

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of fiction Take, for example, the popularity of Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke and similar tradwife literary fiction. — Ashley Winstead, PEOPLE, 11 July 2026 Meanwhile literary fiction and in particular speculative fiction proves fertile for probing worst case scenarios in a world where technology outpaces human innovation. — Caroline Reilly, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026 The obvious gem of the collection is the attention-getting title story, about the Canadian Nobel laureate Alice Munro, who died in 2024 — and whose complex, layered short fiction Aviv admires. — Julia M. Klein, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2026 The sheer volume of commercial genre fiction is staggering; a report from 2025 estimated that fifty-one million romance books were sold that year, with fantasy novels moving around twenty-five million units. — Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 8 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for fiction
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fiction
  1. fantasy
  2. tale
  3. story
  4. novel
  5. fabrication
  6. fable
  7. invention
  8. figment
Noun
  • Although the third-place play-off counts towards fantasy points, that game is unlikely to be taken too seriously by either side and rotation could be an issue.
    — Abdul Rehman, New York Times, 14 July 2026
  • The white-on-white fantasy of the Starck years has given way to creams, corals, warm woods, and sculptural furniture that feels made to be used, not admired from across the room.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 14 July 2026
Definition of fantasy
Noun
  • At 55, the Academy Award–winning actor had to train hard and eat right to maintain the body of a hero worthy of a generation-spanning epic tale.
    — Max Berlinger, Vogue, 20 July 2026
  • But even within the movie’s powerful melodrama sits a secondary tale of fascistic process, one that speaks truth to power through implication and whisper.
    — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 20 July 2026
Definition of tale
Noun
  • Associated Press writers Pan Pylas and Jill Lawless contributed to this story.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 19 July 2026
  • Especially since there are so many stories already inside the game with the campaign aspect.
    — Jennifer Maas, Variety, 18 July 2026
Definition of story
Noun
  • There’s also a massive best seller (Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko), a cult classic that got adapted into an Oscar-winning movie (Percival Everett’s Erasure), and a middling historical novel (Julian Barnes’s The Noise of Time)—none of which has been banned.
    — Sophia Nguyen, The Atlantic, 18 July 2026
  • There is no denying the staying power of this novel over its 75 years in print.
    — John Warner, Chicago Tribune, 18 July 2026
Definition of novel
Noun
  • An additional four fabrication plants in Arizona will likely be built with the new investments, TSMC said.
    — Chan Ho-Him, Fortune, 16 July 2026
  • The researchers built a laboratory-scale prototype using manufacturing processes already common in semiconductor chip fabrication, suggesting the design could eventually be produced at industrial scale.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 13 July 2026
Definition of fabrication
Noun
  • Explore the Wild West from the back of a rickety wagon as characters share famed fables about Paul Bunyan, Babe the Blue Ox, Pecos Bill, John Henry and Hekeke.
    — Nicole Bennett, AJC.com, 10 July 2026
  • In 1964, Time, which then had a circulation of more than 3 million, ran a cover story on John Cheever, the author known for his dark fables of suburban malaise.
    — Rose Horowitch, The Atlantic, 8 July 2026
Definition of fable
Noun
  • That shift may prove as significant for ocean governance as the invention of radar was for maritime navigation.
    — IEEE Spectrum, IEEE Spectrum, 16 July 2026
  • Yes, portobellos were a marketing invention—but who came up with them?
    — Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 15 July 2026
Definition of invention
Noun
  • Pína and Hawk mysteriously slip out while Joe and Angela are in the kitchen, suggesting that the adventurous lovemakers may have just been figments of their imagination.
    — Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 11 July 2026
  • The irony was Morocco played more like the Netherlands lingering in our imagination, now an Oranje figment no longer grounded in reality.
    — James Horncastle, New York Times, 30 June 2026
Definition of figment

Browse Nearby Words

fictile
fiction
fictional
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Fiction.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fiction. Accessed 22 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on fiction

Nglish: Translation of fiction for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about fiction

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