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:
But even daring to fictionalize some version of that atrocity raises “Andor” above other spinoffs.
From Salon ● Apr. 22, 2025
“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
“We just decided, ‘We’re not going to fictionalize the Valley.’”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 27, 2022
Seeking to cover 16 years in little more than two hours, they condense or flat-out fictionalize with a wink.
From New York Times ● Nov. 17, 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 Steven (Steven David Justin) Sills
Weightier than any of that is the ever-more involuted mystery enveloping the real Elizabeth Short, whose murder has inspired fictionalized homages before De Palma’s movie and since, but has yet to be satisfactorily rendered onscreen.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
Ellis fictionalized his Buckley School years for the novel, originally released as a serialized audiobook on his podcast.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 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
With independent reading, memoirs are big, like “Crying in H Mart” and Sylvia Plath’s fictionalized “The Bell Jar.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
It's basically Tiny's slightly fictionalized life story, except it is sung, and it is—I mean, I don't use this adjective lightly—the gayest single musical in all of human history.
From "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan
“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
The Book Review podcast: Alice Elliott Dark discusses her new novel and Katherine Chen talks about fictionalizing Joan of Arc.
From New York Times ● Jul. 10, 2022
That story followed the rise of Viking Ragnar Lodbrok from farmer to king, fictionalizing the exploits of a real figure from history.
From Salon ● Mar. 12, 2022
“By fictionalizing away my innocence, my total lack of involvement, by erasing the role of the authorities in my wrongful conviction, McCarthy reinforces an image of me as a guilty and untrustworthy person,” Knox wrote.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 30, 2021
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