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

---

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 If you make a documentary about the U.S. Library of Congress, you'll be documenting lots of historical documents.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

“He seemed like a level-headed person,” one friend says of Richard “Beebo” Russell, the subject of the documentary “#Skyking.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

Born in 1951, in Dunfermline, Fife, Allan became interested in snorkelling and diving after watching Jacques Cousteau's film, The Silent World, a 1956 documentary which was one of the first to use underwater filming.

From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026

As part of the buildup to the Masters coverage, Prime Video debuted “Rory McIlroy: The Masters Wait” on March 30, a documentary on the popular golfer’s journey to his 2025 win.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026

British journalist Louis Theroux, in his recent Netflix documentary “Inside the Manosphere,” exposes how Southern’s experience is hardly unique.

From Salon • Apr. 8, 2026

All three of us would rather fold into each other on the couch, reading a book or watching a documentary, than gossip with Mama.

From "Pride" by Ibi Zoboi

Related Words

• broadcast
• feature
• film
• narrative