fictionalize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fictionalize
First recorded in 1920–25; fictional ( def. ) + -ize
Explanation
To fictionalize is to take a true story and change the details so it's not literally accurate. When you write your first novel, you might simply fictionalize the family tales your grandparents have told you. When you fictionalize something, you transform a factual story into fiction. A lot of writers use this technique to turn their own experiences and real people they know into interesting stories. If you're writing a story for school about the time your friend forged a note from his mom to excuse his absence, you might decide to fictionalize him so he doesn't get in trouble. Fictionalize comes from a Latin root, fingere, "to shape or form."
Vocabulary lists containing fictionalize
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:
Shadows of Spielberg’s filmography loom large over “Disclosure Day”: the inclination to revisit and fictionalize childhood from “The Fabelmans,” the tests of empathy in “A.I. Artificial Intelligence,” and, of course, all the aliens.
From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026
Noomin waited years after her losses before writing about them, and the conflict between wanting to fictionalize her story and to tell it honestly is dramatized through conversations with an alter ego.
From New York Times ● Nov. 22, 2022
“I was very excited to pick it apart and figure out what we wanted to fictionalize to push this story forward,” he said.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 4, 2022
I have disagreed with many of the attempts to question her right to fictionalize Mexico’s predicament simply because she long identified as white.
From Slate ● Jan. 31, 2020
It was a means by which, if not to erase or delete memory, to splice it, to fictionalize it, and to some degree begin again; and yet he judged consciousness to be even less real.
From An Apostate: Nawin of Thais by Steven (Steven David Justin) Sills
“Bridgerton” is set in a fictionalized version of Regency England, filled with grand balls and regal social dances, and its movement is all about subtlety.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
His interest in Murashige, meanwhile, a real-life tactician fictionalized here as an under-the-gun leader presented with myriad problems, poses the question: Did Kurosawa make a film about directing films?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
Prosecutors allege that Matar was motivated by a fatwa that Ayatollah Khomeini, then leader of Iran, issued in 1989 following Rushdie's depiction of a fictionalized Prophet Muhammad in his novel "The Satanic Verses."
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
In “Cast Away,” Francesca de Tores offers a fictionalized account of Selkirk’s tale.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
And though Grove would eventually release a fictionalized version called The Years of Fear, the original historical account was never published.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
If audiences already know the intimate details of how a very real public leak, whistle-blow, or scandal came together, what’s left for them to learn by fictionalizing it all?
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026
“Her First American,” Segal’s best book, also draws closely from life, but its fictionalizing feels freer and brings out poignant elements of romance and tragicomedy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
It also drew a blank when asked for a speech from George Santos, the New York Republican congressman who was caught fictionalizing his past.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 6, 2023
And it’s uncommon for producers to involve the people whose lives they are fictionalizing.
From New York Times ● Jan. 14, 2023
The pair decided that Tembi Locke’s story of her marriage to an Italian man, over his mother’s resistance to the American interloper, and its aftermath would benefit from fictionalizing the characters.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 29, 2022
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