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Showing results for documentary. Search instead for documentable .
Synonyms

documentary

American  
[dok-yuh-men-tuh-ree, -tree] / ˌdɒk yəˈmɛn tə ri, -tri /

adjective

  1. Also documental pertaining to, consisting of, or derived from documents.

    a documentary history of France.

  2. Movies, Television.  based on or re-creating an actual event, era, life story, etc., that purports to be factually accurate and contains no fictional elements.

    a documentary life of Gandhi.

noun

PLURAL

documentaries

  1. Movies, Television.  a documentary film, radio or television program, etc.

documentary British  
/ ˌdɒkjʊˈmɛntərɪ, -trɪ /

adjective

  1. Also: documental.  consisting of, derived from, or relating to documents

  2. presenting factual material with little or no fictional additions

    the book gives a documentary account of the war
"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

noun

  1. a factual film or television programme about an event, person, etc, presenting the facts with little or no fiction

"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

  • documentarily adverb
  • nondocumental adjective
  • nondocumentary adjective
  • predocumentary adjective
  • semidocumentary adjective
  • undocumentary adjective

Etymology

Origin of documentary

First recorded in 1795–1805; document + -ary

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.

A year after being handed a 20-year ban on filmmaking he dispatched a documentary with the title "This is Not a Film" to the Cannes Festival on a flash drive stashed in a cake.

From Barron's

When I first had the blood tests, I thought it would provide an interesting scene for our documentary.

From BBC

The man we were speaking to for our latest Disclosure documentary was living in a nearby asylum hotel, where angry protests had been taking place since the summer.

From BBC

In talking to people as research for my documentary, there seem to me to be other factors, which are potential stumbling blocks to fuller public support.

From BBC

Speaking in a recent episode of the documentary series The Reluctant Traveller, he told presenter Eugene Levy "change is on my agenda, change for good".

From BBC

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.