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Synonyms

docudrama

American  
[dok-yuh-drah-muh, -dram-uh] / ˈdɒk yəˌdrɑ mə, -ˌdræm ə /

noun

Television.

  1. a fictionalized drama based primarily on actual events.

docudrama British  
/ ˈdɒkjʊˌdrɑːmə /

noun

  1. a film or television programme based on true events, presented in a dramatized form

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • docudramatist noun

Etymology

Origin of docudrama

First recorded in 1960–65; docu(mentary) + drama

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.

"Sentimental Value" will compete in the foreign language film category against Brazilian crime thriller "The Secret Agent", Cannes' top Palme d'Or winner "It Was Just An Accident" and Palestinian docudrama "The Voice of Hind Rajab".

From Barron's • Feb. 22, 2026

Fox News in 2018 launched Fox Nation, which intended to complement the network’s offerings with programming such as “The Saints,” a docudrama narrated by Martin Scorsese.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026

Jessi adds the docudrama shows how "we are all normal and everyday girls, not people wearing bonnets and churning butter like you might think".

From BBC • Jun. 1, 2025

The moment of reckoning was a long time in the making, but it was turbocharged by a four-part television docudrama that aired earlier this year.

From Seattle Times • May 22, 2024

So I did try, very hard, to view “The Girls on the Bus” for what it is: a television show, designed to entertain, rather than a docudrama created to inform.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 14, 2024

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.