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:
“Hacks” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” successfully fictionalize such frustrations, as the tribute acknowledges by opening with “Hacks” star Jean Smart’s pre-recorded reflections on the late comedian’s influence.
From Salon ● May 14, 2025
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
“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
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 Sills, Steven (Steven David Justin)
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
That doesn’t mean there isn’t anything to be learned from true history or its fictionalized version dressed up in dragons and magic.
From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026
Mr. Pynchon, a descendant of the colonial family fictionalized in “The House of the Seven Gables,” infuses his chronicle with a modern sense of paranoia and a taste for countercultural heresies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 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
“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 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
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
Their colorful means of fictionalizing history's sea changes help us to better appreciate the people who made it.
From Salon ● Apr. 17, 2022
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
