fictionalize

especially British, fic·tion·al·ise

[fik-shuh-nl-ahyz]

verb (used with object)

fictionalized, fictionalizing 

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

   to fictionalize a biography.

fictionalize

/ ˈfɪkʃənəˌlaɪz /

verb

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

Other Word Forms

• fictionalization noun
• fictionalizer noun
• semifictionalized adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of fictionalize¹

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

Example Sentences

In its children’s video “Frederick Douglass: The Outspoken Abolitionist,” the fictionalized cartoon of Douglass warns children to “stay away from radicals” who want to change the American system rather than work within it.

Read more on Salon

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.

Read more on Barron's

Eddie Glaude Jr. slumps a bit as he rubs his forehead, the universal sign of being overwhelmed by the flood of partisan nonsense Aaron Tang fictionalizes in “Breaking the Deadlock: Truth Under Fire.”

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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.”

Read more on 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.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• fabricate