nonfiction

[non-fik-shuhn]

noun

1. the branch of literature comprising works of narrative prose dealing with or offering opinions or conjectures upon facts and reality, including biography, history, and the essay (fiction and poetry anddrama ).

2. works of this class.

   She had read all of his novels but none of his nonfiction.

3. (especially in cataloging books, as in a library or bookstore) all writing or books not fiction, poetry, or drama, including nonfictive narrative prose and reference works; the broadest category of written works.

nonfiction

/ ˌnɒnˈfɪkʃən /

noun

1. writing dealing with facts and events rather than imaginative narration

2. (modifier) relating to or denoting nonfiction

Other Word Forms

• nonfictional adjective
• nonfictionally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of nonfiction¹

First recorded in 1905–10; non- + fiction

Example Sentences

But he couldn’t stay settled and nonfiction writing gave him the perfect excuse to roam.

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At the local library, she skirted the kids’ section and went straight to the adult nonfiction shelves to read about terminal diseases in medical textbooks.

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Franklin set the stage for thousands of subsequent writers who produced novels, memoirs and nonfiction books focusing on the working lives of Americans.

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Helen Garner, the prolific Australian author of fiction and nonfiction, was searching for her next project when she began accompanying her grandson to sports practice.

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Edited by Lee’s appointed biographer Casey Cep, it collects the author’s youthful short stories along with the surprisingly few nonfiction pieces she produced after becoming famous.

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