fiction

American  

[fik-shuhn] / ˈfɪk ʃən /

noun

• fictions
  plural

1. the class of literature comprising works of imaginative narration, especially in prose form.

2. works of this class, as novels or short stories.

   detective fiction.

3. something feigned, invented, or imagined; a made-up story.

   We've all heard the fiction of her being in delicate health.

   Synonyms:

   fantasy, fable

   Antonyms:

   fact

4. the act of feigning, inventing, or imagining.

5. an imaginary thing or event, postulated for the purposes of argument or explanation.

6. Law. an allegation that a fact exists that is known not to exist, made by authority of law to bring a case within the operation of a rule of law.

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fiction British  

/ ˈfɪkʃən /

noun

1. literary works invented by the imagination, such as novels or short stories

2. an invented story or explanation; lie

3. the act of inventing a story or explanation

4. law something assumed to be true for the sake of convenience, though probably false

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fiction Cultural  

1. Literature that is a work of the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact. Some examples of modern works of fiction are The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov.

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Synonym Usage

Fiction, fabrication, figment suggest a story that is without basis in reality. Fiction suggests a story invented and fashioned either to entertain or to deceive: clever fiction; pure fiction. Fabrication applies particularly to a false but carefully invented statement or series of statements, in which some truth is sometimes interwoven, the whole usually intended to deceive: fabrications to lure speculators. Figment applies to a tale, idea, or statement often made up to explain, justify, or glorify oneself: His rich uncle was a figment of his imagination.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• fictioneer
  noun
• semifiction
  noun
• fictional
  adjective
• profiction
  adjective
• semifictional
  adjective
• fictionally
  adverb
• semifictionally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• fictions
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of fiction

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English ficcio(u)n, from French, from Latin fictiōn- (stem of fictiō ) “a shaping,” hence “a feigning, fiction,” equivalent to fict(us) “molded” (past participle of fingere ) + -iōn- -ion; see figment ( def. )

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Explanation

A fiction is a deliberately fabricated account of something. It can also be a literary work based on imagination rather than on fact, like a novel or short story. The Latin word fictus means “to form,” which seems like a good source for the English word fiction, since fiction is formed in the imagination. Like its literary cousins fable, legend, and myth, however, fiction has a slightly darker additional meaning: a deliberate lie or untruth. When we talk about "the line between fact and fiction," we're talking about the difference between truth and lies.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fiction fictions

"It's definitely some weird cultural thing where mainstream movies are now mostly fantasy: fantasy, science fiction, horror, comic books, all different kinds of fantasy," Ethan, 69, explained.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

Muriel Spark, best remembered for her sophisticated and witty fiction, tried her hand at verse-writing with a series of poems about Bluebell the kitten.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Yet it used the genres of supernatural fantasy and science fiction to examine reality.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

“Those are scenarios of varying levels of catastrophe, and that’s kind of how I’ve been seeing speculative fiction lately.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

We ought to do some science fiction, they agreed.

From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow

Amid the usual rants of self-puffery and other fictions, he said this:

From Slate ● Sep. 10, 2026

There’s something slightly disconcerting about seeing Golding’s austere, inward fictions placed alongside works operating in such different registers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

Importantly, and often understated, tokenized equities remain tied to the traditional financial-asset universe; they are not “crypto-only” fictions but rather a bridge between legacy asset classes and blockchain infrastructure.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 19, 2026

Previous fictions have deemed Agnes a cradle robber or a shrew or the Bard’s secret co-writer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2025

For them epicycles were useful fictions which made computation of the position of the planets possible.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

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Related Words

• book
• drama
• fable
• fantasy
• imagination
• legend
• myth
• narrative
• novel
• tale
• yarn

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