biopic
Americannoun
-
biopics
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of biopic
1950–55; bio(graphy) + (motion) pic(ture)
Explanation
A biopic is a fictional film that's based on a true story of a famous person. If you develop a cure for cancer or get elected president, someone may make a biopic about you one day! Biopic is a shorthand term for biographical (moving) picture that's been around since the 1950s. Some of these films stick very closely to the biography of their subject, in an attempt to tell a true story of a real person. Others take great liberties with the biographical details in order to make a more interesting plot. Either way, if you like movies about historical figures, movie stars, and sports legends, you should check out some biopics!
Vocabulary lists containing biopic
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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.
See Examples For:
Police conducted dozens of raids Thursday into the alleged embezzlement of public funds by the company that produced the flattering biopic.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
In a biopic, the triumphant night in Cardiff would have been the final scene - the moment of resolution after 15 years of pain.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
The projects vary from a line of Dolly Parton dolls, which will launch online Sept. 15, to a biopic and a docuseries with release dates to be revealed later.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
An accuracy check on that Bourdain biopic: We’ve mentioned here before that Slate’s movie critic loved Tony—but how true is the film, and what liberties did it take with the facts?
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026
As luck would have it, though, the only English-language film being shown in Belgrade was Lust for Life, the lush biopic of the mad nineteenth-century Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Neither am I a fan of biopics, though I watch them professionally, which tend to squeeze the nuance out of a life in pursuit of entertainment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026
But his recapitulations of Vyvyan’s battles with the taxman, of bygone court cases and of late-20th-century documentaries and biopics could have been done at half the length.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
“Michael” went on to shatter box-office records for biopics, raking in almost $220 million worldwide during its first opening weekend.
From Salon ● May 14, 2026
Lionsgate’s “Michael” is on track to unseat “Straight Outta Compton” as the king of musical biopics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026
The four-part project was officially announced by Sony two years ago, with Sir Sam revealing the four stars of The Beatle biopics at CinemaCon in April 2025.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
