fabricate
Americanverb (used with object)
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fabricates,
present (3rd person singular)
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fabricated,
past participle, past
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fabricating
present participle
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to make by art or skill and labor; construct.
The finest craftspeople fabricated this clock.
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to make by assembling parts or sections.
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to devise or invent (a legend, lie, etc.).
-
to fake; forge (a document, signature, etc.).
verb
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to make, build, or construct
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to devise, invent, or concoct (a story, lie, etc)
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to fake or forge
Synonym Usage
See manufacture.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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fabricatesimple
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fabricatessimple
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have fabricatedperfect
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has fabricatedperfect
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am fabricatingprogressive
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are fabricatingprogressive
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is fabricatingprogressive
-
have been fabricatingperfect progressive
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has been fabricatingperfect progressive
Past
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fabricatedsimple
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had fabricatedperfect
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was fabricatingprogressive
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were fabricatingprogressive
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had been fabricatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fabricate
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin fabricātus “made,” past participle of fabricāre; see fabric, -ate 1
Explanation
Do you like to construct mini airplanes from kits? Work on an assembly line? Piece together Ikea furniture? Then you certainly know how to fabricate, or to put together, things. While fabricate might mean the physical act of construction, it can also mean constructing a falsehood. Watch out — those well versed in the art of fabrication might have an ulterior motive. In the movies, the bad cops sometimes fabricate evidence to make the good guy look guilty. When you tell the teacher the dog ate your homework, you’ve fabricated a pretty silly excuse. So if you’re going to fabricate the truth, get some better material!
Vocabulary lists containing fabricate
Advanced English Words
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Fake It 'Til You Make It: Synonyms for "False"
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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.
See Examples For:
County’s district attorney and the State Bar after The Times reported last fall that some of its clients said they’d been paid to sue, and, in some cases, fabricate their claims against the county.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
"This nonequilibrium fabrication approach enables us to fabricate materials from alloy vapor to a solid, introducing a significant number of dislocations in CoAl," Zhang said.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026
Several insurers have filed racketeering lawsuits against Liakas for allegedly conspiring with doctors to fabricate and exaggerate injuries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
And why MedPac — an independent body overseen by leading healthcare professionals from across all parts of the industry, from doctors to nursing organizations to health insurers themselves — would fabricate these numbers is unexplained.
From MarketWatch ● May 28, 2026
“If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. But don’t fabricate some story out of a misguided desire to pacify or impress me.”
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, fabricates roughly 90% of the world’s most advanced semiconductor chips.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026
Exiled by Astoria to the garage, Hampton fabricates his special drill as the family watches from afar.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2025
Now his custom-made creations, which he designs and fabricates after work in his garage in Port Chester, N.Y., are featured in those same lowrider magazines.
From New York Times ● May 19, 2024
To print a new material from scratch, one must typically set up to 100 parameters in software that controls how the printer will extrude the material as it fabricates an object.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 8, 2024
G. L., at London headquarters, 212Schwab, Charles M., fabricates submarines for the Allies, 266Seaplane base at Killingholme, England, taken over by U.S., 278Seaplane stations of U.S. forces in Europe, 284Sexton, Capt.
From The Victory At Sea by Burton J. Hendrick
Unfortunately, Poyais was a fictitious country fabricated by a Scottish con man.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
Authorities determined that Owens altered an ultrasound image, fabricated a pregnancy video and lied under oath claiming she was pregnant, according to a statement from prosecutors at the time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
He had denied the allegations, telling the jury that he believed them to be fabricated.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
Finally, the scientists used a tiny, specially fabricated oven to evaporate molecules onto the cold crystal, allowing them to settle on the clean surface.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 20, 2026
Then, since our lab was ruined, he fabricated data that ended up being more accurate than anyone else’s.
From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia
Her resignation letter accused district officials of fabricating a grade to “appease an irate parent” whose child had repeatedly failed to turn in an art assignment in Hardcastle’s class at John F. Kennedy Middle School.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2026
Meghan’s half-sister, Samantha Markle, has also defended their father, accusing their brother Thomas Jr. of fabricating the allegations for financial gain and claiming the computers had been outside their father’s possession for two years.
From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026
Musk also offered Trumpian prose: “Gutless Gibney’s fatal flaw of fabricating a false film.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
Singh worked with Jyoti Katoch, an associate professor of physics who specializes in fabricating devices from such materials.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026
Some were in so far over their heads that they resorted to invention, fabricating preposterous stories or quotations out of thin air.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
