documentary
Americanadjective
-
Also documental pertaining to, consisting of, or derived from documents.
a documentary history of France.
-
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
documentariesadjective
-
Also: documental. consisting of, derived from, or relating to documents
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presenting factual material with little or no fictional additions
the book gives a documentary account of the war
noun
Other Word Forms
- documentarily adverb
- nondocumental adjective
- nondocumentary adjective
- predocumentary adjective
- semidocumentary adjective
- undocumentary adjective
Etymology
Origin of documentary
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.
Among them, McCartney pointed out, was Morgan Neville, director of the recent “Man on the Run” documentary about McCartney’s life in the aftermath of the Beatles’ breakup.
From Los Angeles Times
Since then, the family have renovated the space to include a man-made lake, a sauna, a football pitch, and a bee garden - which featured heavily in the Netflix documentary about Sir David released in 2023.
From BBC
And our aforementioned hike to Machu Picchu, we have a documentary about that, that will be premiering at a fancy festival at some point in the near-future.
From Los Angeles Times
That kinship is what makes Coppola’s first documentary, “Marc by Sofia,” such a thrill — and also what occasionally holds the film back.
From Salon
Producer Namjo Kim added, “When it comes to shooting a documentary, I feel like what’s really important is the ‘wait’ part of it more so than the actual filming part of it.
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.
