fictioneer

American  

[fik-shuh-neer] / ˌfɪk ʃəˈnɪər /

noun

1. a writer of fiction, especially a prolific one whose works are of mediocre quality.

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Usage

What does fictioneer mean? A fictioneer is a fiction writer, especially one who puts out a lot of work considered mediocre or low quality.The word fictioneer is most often applied to writers who churn out the kind of stories usually found in cheap, mass-market paperbacks, especially ones that snobs consider lowbrow “genre fiction,” such as romance novels, mysteries, or science fiction. However, it can also be used in a more neutral way as simply another (more fun) word for a fiction writer.Example: Many highly regarded novelists started their careers as fictioneers who wrote under pseudonyms and published anything they could to scrape together a living.

Other Word Forms

• fictioneering noun

Etymology

Origin of fictioneer

First recorded in 1920–25; fiction + -eer

Example Sentences

He's also a prolific blogger; an essential criteria for today's ambitious pulp fictioneer, when your readership are only ever a tweet away.

From The Guardian • May 29, 2012

If a novelist invented a character like Lord Byron, he would be set down as an opportunistic fictioneer with an eye on the bestseller list.

From Time Magazine Archive

This new book is further evidence that as a fictioneer Baldwin is in great danger of becoming drearily irrelevant.

From Time Magazine Archive

On the air they were read by Virgil Markham, the poet's fictioneer son.

From Time Magazine Archive

But short stories do not pay well, and Bates, like any sensible fictioneer, wants to be paid as well as read.

From Time Magazine Archive