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

Over in nonfiction, it was the same story, with “How Fascism Works” and “On Tyranny” both making appearances.

From Los Angeles Times

This, according to Brown, is also the stuff of nonfiction.

From Los Angeles Times

As suggested by its subtitle, “The Education of an Artist,” the book is the nonfiction equivalent of a bildungsroman.

From Los Angeles Times

In his spare time, he’s working on a nonfiction book, “I Don’t Belong Here.”

From Los Angeles Times

These eyewitness accounts would feed into Baldwin’s impassioned essays on race such as “Down at the Cross” and his 1972 nonfiction book “No Name in the Street.”

From Los Angeles Times