documentary

American  

[dok-yuh-men-tuh-ree, -tree] / ˌdɒk jəˈmɛn 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

documentaries plural

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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• documentaries
  plural

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 If you make a documentary about the U.S. Library of Congress, you'll be documenting lots of historical documents.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

See Examples For:

documentary documentaries

With the country’s dramatic gender imbalance at the forefront, this documentary on ‘POV’ follows a dubious dating coach in Chongqing as he trains young men to help them find a mate.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

If that sounds worrisome, the hapless bachelors of Violet Du Feng’s documentary may put one’s mind at rest about angry, frustrated men.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026

For the documentary, Davies teamed up with investigative journalist Liam Connell, who has previously infiltrated secretive online networks.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

Meanwhile, posted filming notices and load-ins of film and sound equipment at MSG sparked rumors of a documentary about the wedding.

From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026

From authority: documentary testimony is classified under authority.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Other highlights include coverage from UK festivals and live music events, documentaries celebrating Madonna, Wham! and David Bowie and performances from artists such as Charli XCX and Sam Smith.

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026

Phillips had a long career in the U.K., producing and writing documentaries and most recently hosted the Sky News program “Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

If, like me, you’re tired of true crime documentaries whose investigations feel sordid and prurient, it’s a relief to find documentaries that deal with crimes but find new meanings in the stories.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026

Tomas Navia is an Emmy-winning Senior Video Journalist for The Wall Street Journal, where he creates enterprise video journalism and character-driven documentaries on major national and global stories.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

The perfect Hideo I’d pieced together from years of documentaries and articles doesn’t seem like the one I’d just met—condescending, unsmiling, cold, the reality of a mythical figure I’d built up in my head.

From "Warcross" by Marie Lu

Related Words

• broadcast
• feature
• film
• narrative