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

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Etymology

Origin of documentary

First recorded in 1795–1805; document + -ary

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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 If you make a documentary about the U.S. Library of Congress, you'll be documenting lots of historical documents.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

Mitchell Reiss tells the documentary series that advances which followed in the peace process – including the IRA's announcement of an end to its armed campaign – were "a direct consequence" of the McCartneys' campaign.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

The filmmakers also grappled with the documentary form as they tried to get at how truthful Holmes and Evans were.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

But, as the documentary shows, their pursuit of justice was not over.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

Nathan Fielder says he can’t wrap his head around what he experienced while making his Elizabeth Holmes documentary, “You Can See Everything.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026

Her tears have turned to anger, the kind of rant she and Kat might have gone on after watching some documentary.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

He also composed and wrote scores for a wide range of projects including TV dramas, documentaries and films.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

The director and producer spoke about his pair of documentaries arriving in successive weeks that take a closer look at two singular comedians.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

She eventually broke into her own work beyond documentaries and videography, directing two narrative feature films before the pandemic began.

From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026

BBC Scotland launched as a channel in 2019, broadcasting a variety of Scottish programming including news, sport, documentaries and entertainment.

From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026

Later, we were permitted to select documentaries — a form that I preferred — and I began to skip the conventional films.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

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Related Words

• broadcast
• feature
• film
• narrative

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