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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 BBC documentary also highlighted allegations about the behaviour by former chief executive James Watt.

From BBC

“Ghost Elephants” is what filmmaker Werner Herzog calls the subjects of his latest documentary, acknowledging in his title that the animals may not exist.

From The Wall Street Journal

“My house is a temple for me. It’s a religious space, it’s where the creativity happens,” he says in the 2019 documentary made on him, “Heavenly Bodies.”

From Los Angeles Times

Currently sixth in the Championship, Wrexham's journey from non-league obscurity has been captured in the 'Welcome to Wrexham' documentary series that gave the north Wales club a cult following around the world.

From Barron's

I made a little documentary film a few years ago, in which I interviewed an Israeli historian named Shlomo Sand.

From Salon

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.