fictionalize

American  

[fik-shuh-nl-ahyz] / ˈfɪk ʃə nlˌaɪz /

especially British, fictionalise

verb (used with object)

fictionalized, fictionalizing

1. to make into fiction; give a somewhat imaginative or fictional version of.

   to fictionalize a biography.

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fictionalize British  

/ ˈfɪkʃənəˌlaɪz /

verb

1. (tr) to make into fiction or give a fictional aspect to

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Other Word Forms

• fictionalization noun
• fictionalizer noun
• semifictionalized adjective

Etymology

Origin of fictionalize

First recorded in 1920–25; fictional ( def. ) + -ize

Example Sentences

Ben Hania’s last film was another bold meshing of the factual and the fictionalized, the hybridized Oscar-nominated documentary “Four Daughters,” in which a real Tunisian family processes personal tragedy through role-playing for the director’s camera.

From Los Angeles Times

One by one, the queer and trans cast members share fictionalized personal stories, harking back to childhood moments before any declaration of identity was possible.

From Los Angeles Times

One of the many great scenes in The Big Short, which fictionalizes famed investor Michael Burry’s bet against the U.S. housing market, involves a tower of wooden blocks.

From Barron's

Orlean is one of the New Yorker’s most high-profile writers, having been portrayed by Meryl Streep in “Adaptation,” a heavily fictionalized version of her book “The Orchid Thief.”

From Los Angeles Times

“I have a fictionalized version of my recovery” because people want so many details of what happened—and want a happy ending, he wrote.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• fabricate