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.

---

fictionalize British  

/ ˈfɪkʃənəˌlaɪz /

verb

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

---

Other Word Forms

• fictionalization noun
• fictionalizer noun
• semifictionalized adjective

Etymology

Origin of fictionalize

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

Example Sentences

But even daring to fictionalize some version of that atrocity raises “Andor” above other spinoffs.

From Salon • Apr. 22, 2025

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

To turn that story into a feature film required Wilson-Cairns and Lindholm to fictionalize certain aspects and change some details.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 26, 2022

There was certainly an exigent need to record, analyze and explain Sept. 11, but it was not at all clear if there was a parallel need to fictionalize Sept. 11.

From Washington Post • Sep. 5, 2021

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 Sills, Steven (Steven David Justin)

Related Words

• fabricate