fabrication
Americannoun
-
the act or process of fabricating; manufacture.
-
something fabricated, especially an untruthful statement.
His account of the robbery is a complete fabrication.
Related Words
See fiction.
Etymology
Origin of fabrication
First recorded in 1475–1500; from Latin fabricātiōn- (stem of fabricātiō ). See fabricate, -ion
Explanation
A fabrication is something made up, like a lie. Telling your boss that the subway broke down when in fact you just forgot to set your alarm is a fabrication. The word fabrication was originally used to talk about manufacturing or construction, and it referred to the act of assembling something. Tires and steering wheels are necessary materials for automobile fabrication. Nowadays, the word fabrication is usually used to refer to the act of coming up with a story out of thin air. In this sense, a book of fiction is a fabrication, as is the lie you tell your girlfriend to explain why you forgot her birthday (again).
Vocabulary lists containing fabrication
A Web of Lies
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"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney
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Bronx Masquerade
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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.
What appeared to Olson to be a data breach was actually a fabrication by the chatbot, Google told The Wall Street Journal.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026
Helium is crucial for semiconductor wafer fabrication, and disruptions knocked roughly a third External link of the gas’s global supply offline.
From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026
The group includes his niece, artist Hannah Peck, 27; woodworker and designer Jessie Blackman, 27; Ethan Casselbery, 28, who has experience in sculpture fabrication and metalwork joinery; and Jordan Kennedy, 36.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026
As new fabrication facilities are built or retrofitted in the next few years, more chip-making tools and equipment will be needed, Klein said.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 28, 2026
The dates and places were correct; his description of his boyhood as a typical country idyll was most certainly a fabrication.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
