as in fictitious
not real and existing only in the imagination
the events in the horror movie seemed so real to some fans that they could not believe that the whole thing was fictional
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Recent Examples of fictional
By setting the season on a fictional hot sauce company’s cabin retreat, the show was able to expand its scale while maintaining the necessary shock value.
—
Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 10 Apr. 2026
The plot wasn’t far off, as so many once bustling towns — like the fictional Radiator Springs — nearly faded away after being bypassed by an interstate.
—Susan Montoya Bryan, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2026
The result is a scathing takedown that will find techies throughout the Valley looking over their shoulders and speculating on who is who amongst the show’s motley collection of fictional backstabbers obsessed with growing their profit margin and amassing wealth and power.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 7 Apr. 2026
Embracing the fictional team's colors, Hudson also wore blue eyeshadow to complement the basketball logo on the front of her top.
—Hannah Malach, InStyle, 7 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fictional
Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 10 Apr. 2026
The plot wasn’t far off, as so many once bustling towns — like the fictional Radiator Springs — nearly faded away after being bypassed by an interstate.
—Susan Montoya Bryan, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2026
The result is a scathing takedown that will find techies throughout the Valley looking over their shoulders and speculating on who is who amongst the show’s motley collection of fictional backstabbers obsessed with growing their profit margin and amassing wealth and power.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 7 Apr. 2026
Embracing the fictional team's colors, Hudson also wore blue eyeshadow to complement the basketball logo on the front of her top.
—Hannah Malach, InStyle, 7 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fictional
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fictional
Adjective
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Investigators allege Gonzalez wrote checks to herself from HOA accounts over an extended period and concealed the thefts by creating fictitious invoices and false ledger entries.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
8 Apr. 2026
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One requires election records to be maintained for 22 months, while the other prohibits procuring, casting or tabulating false, fictitious or fraudulent ballots.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
29 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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And so the super, super devoted fans really do know each other and really are jockeying with each other for position in a way that feels both real and imaginary.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
9 Apr. 2026
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No borders and a thin blue line Viewing the Earth from space, White highlights, drives home that the borders that mark our maps are largely imaginary.—
Jackie Wattles,
CNN Money,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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But the most important sighting of the mythical Stravinskian fowl might be the revival of Dance Theatre of Harlem’s 1982 version, migrating back to New York for the first time in more than twenty years.—
Hilton Als,
New Yorker,
10 Apr. 2026
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The poem tells the story of the seduction of a sixteen-year-old girl by the watermonster, a mythical figure, weaving together themes of place, identity, trauma, and transformation.—
Patrick Dundon,
JSTOR Daily,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Some version of this happens in all your books—an imagined future opens up new possibilities in the present.—
Andrew Marantz,
New Yorker,
5 Apr. 2026
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The title track is simply a recitation of imagined Spotify playlists, and once the joke lands we’re not left with much.—
The Week US,
TheWeek,
25 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fictional.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fictional. Accessed 16 Apr. 2026.
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