biopic

American

[bahy-oh-pik] / ˈbaɪ oʊˌpɪk /

noun

a biographical movie or TV show.

biopic British

/ ˈbaɪəʊˌpɪk /

noun

informal a film based on the life of a famous person, esp one giving a popular treatment

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of biopic

1950–55; bio(graphy) + (motion) pic(ture)

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

That same year, “Girl You Know It’s True,” a well-made biopic directed by Simon Verhoeven, came out.

From Los Angeles Times

Mescal, who turns 30 on Feb. 2, is playing the Beatles star in a gutsy biopic project currently in production.

From The Wall Street Journal

Or how about a biopic that fires blanks?

From Los Angeles Times

The soundtrack to Robbie Williams' biopic Better Man was, for reasons that remain unclear, the year's best seller on tape.

From BBC

Directors don’t have to sprint to cover a whole existence, and they can present their movie as a fresh twist on an old form, even if they still rely on many biopic tropes.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023