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.

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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

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noun

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

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

Explanation

A documentary is a film or video examining an event or person based on facts. The word can also refer to anything involving documents. The idea of documentary as meaning "pertaining to documents" came about at the beginning of the 19th century. Later, it came to mean a factual record of something. On PBS, you'll see lots of documentaries, about everything from baseball to war. Those documentaries are nonfiction films — they're showing true life. However, lots of fictional shows are filmed in a realistic documentary style. If you make a documentary about the U.S. Library of Congress, you'll be documenting lots of historical documents.

Example Sentences

The research will also contribute to an upcoming documentary and an international film project.

From Science Daily • May 4, 2026

Imagine “Cats” thrown into a Cuisinart with the 1990 documentary “Paris is Burning” and the TV series “Pose.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

A new documentary turns the journalist into the story.

From Slate • May 1, 2026

Talankin, 35, a videographer from a small-town Russian school, caused a sensation when he won the Academy Award for best documentary feature alongside US filmmaker David Borenstein in March.

From Barron's • May 1, 2026

My friend told me about the most incredible documentary.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

Related Words

• broadcast
• feature
• film
• narrative