1
as in synthetic
being such in appearance only and made with or manufactured from usually cheaper materials
presumably the statue is of factitious marble, because for that price you're not going to get the real stuff
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in false
lacking in natural or spontaneous quality
the factitious friendliness shown by the beauty-pageant contestants to one another
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Recent Examples of factitious
Another was shorting Valeant, the high-flyer with factitious revenue growth.
—
William Baldwin, Forbes.com, 23 Apr. 2025
With this announcement, factitious (in my opinion) concerns about Amazon being behind in GenAI will be reduced big time.
—Sandy Carter, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2024
This is a useful inquiry, because we in the modern world are inundated by manipulated or factitious statistics, fabricated by marketers and politicians, promoted on social media and swallowed whole by news organizations.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 14 Dec. 2023
Their connection to these was as factitious as their previous link to toothpaste.
—David Mamet, National Review, 31 Mar. 2022
Marc Feldman, the American psychiatrist who popularized the term Munchausen by internet, has noticed that most of the cases of factitious disorder that come to his attention involve women.
—Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2021
Almanacs aren’t always — and haven’t always been — so fastidiously factitious.
—Mark Athitakis, Washington Post, 24 Nov. 2020
William Baldwin, Forbes.com, 23 Apr. 2025
With this announcement, factitious (in my opinion) concerns about Amazon being behind in GenAI will be reduced big time.
—Sandy Carter, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2024
This is a useful inquiry, because we in the modern world are inundated by manipulated or factitious statistics, fabricated by marketers and politicians, promoted on social media and swallowed whole by news organizations.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 14 Dec. 2023
Their connection to these was as factitious as their previous link to toothpaste.
—David Mamet, National Review, 31 Mar. 2022
Marc Feldman, the American psychiatrist who popularized the term Munchausen by internet, has noticed that most of the cases of factitious disorder that come to his attention involve women.
—Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2021
Almanacs aren’t always — and haven’t always been — so fastidiously factitious.
—Mark Athitakis, Washington Post, 24 Nov. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for factitious
Adjective
-
Do not use laundry detergents to clean synthetic rugs.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
6 Apr. 2026
-
Kellogg’s won’t voluntarily drop synthetic colors as long as General Mills still uses them, for example.—
Catherina Gioino,
Fortune,
5 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Five of the cases involved hospice care facilities in several cities across Los Angeles County that submitted false claims to Medicare for patients who were not terminally ill and were not eligible for services, prosecutors said.—
Thao Nguyen,
USA Today,
3 Apr. 2026
-
This means that precious time was likely lost at the beginning as police investigated a lead that was based on false assumptions.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Starter Kyle Freeland was nails, and Willi Castro and Mickey Moniak both slipped on the celebratory purple faux fur coat after launching home runs.—
Patrick Saunders,
Denver Post,
8 Apr. 2026
-
This pair in particular reminds me of a style Anne Hathaway stepped out in with its black faux-leather exterior and silver bit hardware.—
Izzy Baskette,
PEOPLE,
7 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
However, as mattresses age and their materials break down, uneven sleeping surfaces and poor support can force your body into unnatural positions, often leading to stiff, sore or achy joints in the morning.—
Sharon Brandwein,
USA Today,
3 Apr. 2026
-
His skating is quite unnatural, though.—
Scott Wheeler,
New York Times,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The rotating space station demonstrates centrifugal artificial gravity, reflecting concepts studied by real aerospace engineers.—
Samantha Agate,
Miami Herald,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Its rotating space station demonstrates centrifugal artificial gravity, reflecting concepts studied by real aerospace engineers.—
Samantha Agate,
Kansas City Star,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The idea of producing multiple mock drafts is to cover multiple possibilities, and with the ninth overall selection in the NFL Draft, there are several for the Chiefs.—
Blair Kerkhoff,
Kansas City Star,
8 Apr. 2026
-
To see how the board has changed over time, check out Chris Perkins’ initial mock draft, David Furones’ post-combine mock and Perkins’ post-Waddle trade mock.—
David Furones,
Sun Sentinel,
4 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Obama recently teamed up with NBA All-Star Anthony Edwards to squash their fake beef while promoting his Obama Presidential Center opening June 19 in Chicago.—
Jay Stahl,
USA Today,
4 Apr. 2026
-
The studio put an ad in The Boston Globe in December that looked like a fake engagement announcement.—
Saba Hamedy,
NBC news,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Fuel subsidies threaten to blow a hole in Jakarta’s already strained budget.—
Nicholas Gordon,
Fortune,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Data centers have sparked backlash from communities across the state that are worried about higher utility bills, strained power grids and water being diverted away from families to cool servers at massive data centers.—
Brendan Steinhauser,
Sun Sentinel,
1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Factitious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/factitious. Accessed 10 Apr. 2026.
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