documentary

American  

[dok-yuh-men-tuh-ree, -tree] / ˌdɒk jəˈmɛn tə ri, -tri /

adjective

1. Also documental pertaining to, consisting of, or derived from documents.

   a documentary history of France.

2. Movies, Television. based on or re-creating an actual event, era, life story, etc., that purports to be factually accurate and contains no fictional elements.

   a documentary life of Gandhi.

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noun

• documentaries
  plural

1. Movies, Television. a documentary film, radio or television program, etc.

documentary British  

/ ˌdɒkjʊˈmɛntərɪ, -trɪ /

adjective

1. Also: documental.  consisting of, derived from, or relating to documents

2. presenting factual material with little or no fictional additions

   the book gives a documentary account of the war

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noun

1. a factual film or television programme about an event, person, etc, presenting the facts with little or no fiction

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nondocumental
  adjective
• nondocumentary
  adjective
• predocumentary
  adjective
• semidocumentary
  adjective
• undocumentary
  adjective
• documentarily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• documentaries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of documentary

First recorded in 1795–1805; document + -ary

Explanation

A documentary is a film or video examining an event or person based on facts. The word can also refer to anything involving documents. The idea of documentary as meaning "pertaining to documents" came about at the beginning of the 19th century. Later, it came to mean a factual record of something. On PBS, you'll see lots of documentaries, about everything from baseball to war. Those documentaries are nonfiction films — they're showing true life. However, lots of fictional shows are filmed in a realistic documentary style. If you make a documentary about the U.S. Library of Congress, you'll be documenting lots of historical documents.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

documentary documentaries

Instead, the documentary homes in on John Paul’s unsavory behavior, approaching the story from Mica’s vantage point.

From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026

The Aussie breakdancer who went viral in 2024 for her cringingly bad performance at the Summer Olympics in Paris is the subject of an infuriating new Netflix documentary about the whole ordeal.

From Slate ● Sep. 2, 2026

As well as "Succession", the five-times married tycoon has been the subject of a spate of biographies, as well as a new Netflix documentary, "Dynasty: The Murdochs" which was released in March this year.

From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026

In the midst of her training, the documentary reveals that Gunn's mother suffered three brain aneurisms.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

My friend told me about the most incredible documentary.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

Related documentaries at Venice include "Citizen Osama", about a photojournalist in Gaza, and "Road to Jericho", about the Israeli-occupied West Bank from Israeli director Amos Gitai.

From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026

Through documentaries with the media, his own memoir, podcasts and even a secret police interview - he acknowledged his role in Shakur's death.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

Demonstrating yet again that horrible and failed movies can make for delectable documentaries, “Boorman and the Devil,” from director David Kittredge, does not deal with curses, unless bad decisions count, and they probably should.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

I tend to lean towards more documentaries than anything else.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

Theaters showed documentaries as newsreels before the main feature.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Related Words

• broadcast
• feature
• film
• narrative