as in fictitious
not real and existing only in the imagination
a daydreamer who lives mostly in her invented magic kingdom
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in devised
to create or think of by clever use of the imagination
they invented an explanation for the broken vase that would satisfy their grandmother
Synonyms & Similar Words
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 invented
Cat Cardenas, Vogue, 7 May 2026
The modern electronic cigarette, or e-cigarette, was invented in the early 2000s by a Chinese pharmacist in response to his father’s death from lung cancer.
—Mikkael Sekeres, Washington Post, 4 May 2026
Flowers were planted; techniques invented.
—Cecilia Vega, CBS News, 3 May 2026
The Beyer Speed Figure, which was invented by Washington Post columnist Andrew Beyer five decades ago, standardizes results across tracks and distances, usually resulting in scores from 100 to 110 for the very fastest horses.
—Peter Keating, New York Times, 1 May 2026
There are a few new characters, like Ann Baxter (Varada Sethu), and some scenes were invented for the show.
—Emily Zemler, Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2026
In 1993, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) announced that the World Wide Web, which was invented at CERN four years earlier by Tim Berners-Lee, was free for anyone to use, and released its source code to the public domain.
—Chicago Tribune, 30 Apr. 2026
Michael Dell, Dell Technologies The future PC mogul sold subscriptions to the now-defunct Houston Post as a teenager, and quietly invented the playbook that would become Dell.
—Sydney Lake, Fortune, 29 Apr. 2026
Major motion pictures partnering with brands to promote movies is the norm now, a practice that has evolved as quickly as technology has since the iPhone was invented in 2007, which can sometimes feel like an attack on your nervous system.
—Alli Rosenbloom, CNN Money, 28 Apr. 2026
Verb
Like many of the state’s greatest musical exports—Selena, Willie Nelson, Beyoncé—Musgraves delights in pushing past invented perimeters to allow other sounds to inform her work.
—Cat Cardenas, Vogue, 7 May 2026
The modern electronic cigarette, or e-cigarette, was invented in the early 2000s by a Chinese pharmacist in response to his father’s death from lung cancer.
—Mikkael Sekeres, Washington Post, 4 May 2026
Flowers were planted; techniques invented.
—Cecilia Vega, CBS News, 3 May 2026
The Beyer Speed Figure, which was invented by Washington Post columnist Andrew Beyer five decades ago, standardizes results across tracks and distances, usually resulting in scores from 100 to 110 for the very fastest horses.
—Peter Keating, New York Times, 1 May 2026
There are a few new characters, like Ann Baxter (Varada Sethu), and some scenes were invented for the show.
—Emily Zemler, Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2026
In 1993, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) announced that the World Wide Web, which was invented at CERN four years earlier by Tim Berners-Lee, was free for anyone to use, and released its source code to the public domain.
—Chicago Tribune, 30 Apr. 2026
Michael Dell, Dell Technologies The future PC mogul sold subscriptions to the now-defunct Houston Post as a teenager, and quietly invented the playbook that would become Dell.
—Sydney Lake, Fortune, 29 Apr. 2026
Major motion pictures partnering with brands to promote movies is the norm now, a practice that has evolved as quickly as technology has since the iPhone was invented in 2007, which can sometimes feel like an attack on your nervous system.
—Alli Rosenbloom, CNN Money, 28 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for invented
Adjective
-
First, Jones submitted fraudulent expense reimbursement requests for fictitious business expenses.—
Irene Wright,
USA Today,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Investigators say the monthly payroll expenses and the number of employees were fictitious and that the documents used to support the monthly income for the companies were false.—
Joseph Buczek,
CBS News,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Recently, the field has experienced a sort of renaissance as researchers — many of them astrophysics refugees like Dwyer — have devised new ways to pierce the clouds.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
6 May 2026
-
Meade, who at the time was eight years into a minimum 10-year prison sentence, devised a plan with co-conspirator Nicholas Umphenour to coordinate his escape from custody.—
Alex Brizee,
Idaho Statesman,
5 May 2026
Adjective
-
The novel follows an elderly British couple, Axl and Beatrice, living in a fictional post-Arthurian England in which no one is able to retain long-term memories.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
8 May 2026
-
The actor couldn’t have been further from the halls of a fictional hospital.—
Savannah Walsh,
Vanity Fair,
8 May 2026
Verb
-
Cocktails are concocted by in-house mixologist, Waguinho, who also invites guests from the local mixology community to arrange tastings.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
7 May 2026
-
For decades, astronomers have concocted intricate computer models to predict how stars live and die.—
Paul Sutter,
Space.com,
3 May 2026
Adjective
-
To find Hydra, first locate the bright stars Chertan and Regulus in the constellation Leo and draw an imaginary line from the former to the latter, extending 20 degrees into open space.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
9 May 2026
-
Artists in the 18th century would often include a person of color, who would sometimes be imaginary, in their portraits of wealthy white sitters to embellish the painting and highlight the high status of the main subject, according to the researchers.—
Amarachi Orie,
CNN Money,
8 May 2026
Verb
-
Then with five seconds to go before intermission, Watts found the back of the net as Notre Dame constructed an 8-7 lead at the break.—
Brendan Connelly,
Boston Herald,
9 May 2026
-
The venue was a casually magnificent stone building, constructed in the fifteenth century as a Dominican convent, on a promontory overlooking a sparkling bay.—
Andrew Marantz,
New Yorker,
9 May 2026
Adjective
-
Then, a shift to the imagined world.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Apr. 2026
-
But, this specific adaptation could be equally advantaged by presenting an imagined hell within our lesser, present one.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
28 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Their stories live on in Sardinian lore with an almost mythical quality, the brigands admired for their intractability.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
7 May 2026
-
Komodo dragons were nearly mythical creatures until the first detailed field study was conducted by Walter Auffenberg in the late 1960s.—
Craig Stanford,
Big Think,
7 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Invented.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/invented. Accessed 12 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
