documentarian
Americannoun
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Movies, Television. a filmmaker, producer, etc., who specializes in documentaries.
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a writer, photographer, or other artist whose work constitutes a document or documentary of an aspect of life.
noun
Etymology
Origin of documentarian
First recorded in 1940–45; document(ary) + -arian
Explanation
A documentarian is a non-fiction filmmaker. Rather than using actors and scripts, documentarians tell stories of real people and factual events. Most documentarians make documentary films, though a few use other media, including audio recordings, to document true stories. Some nature documentarians spend months filming migratory birds or feral cats, while another documentarian might assemble home movie footage to make an autobiographical movie about her own family. The root of documentarian is document, from the Latin documentum, "proof."
Vocabulary lists containing documentarian
doc
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-arian
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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.
Much to my surprise, Radcliffe more than steps up as a down-and-out documentarian inserted into the life of a disgraced football star grasping for a comeback.
From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2026
Security officials told its owner, Mr Nobody Against Putin documentarian Pavel Talankin, that it could be used as weapon and couldn't be transported in his carry-on luggage.
From BBC ● May 1, 2026
Neville is smart enough as a documentarian to leave out platitudes, but also to let access to Michaels’ Maine retreat be a vibe rather than some knockout reveal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
Patterson, who died in 1972, hailed from the same region of Washington as Evans; the documentarian discovered that the hardscrabble cowboy had also been a gifted craftsman and artist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026
The big man with the red-framed glasses is a documentarian of note, making him one of the more famous residents of the Dakota.
From "Confessions of a Murder Suspect" by James Patterson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
