historical fiction
Americannoun
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the genre of literature, film, etc., comprising narratives that take place in the past and are characterized chiefly by an imaginative reconstruction of historical events and personages.
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works of this genre, as novels and plays.
Etymology
Origin of historical fiction
First recorded in 1585–95
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.
Both were popular novelists of rip-roaring historical fiction, both were politically active Tories, and both had the Borderlands at the heart of their works and lives.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2026
“Titanic” was not merely a romance; it was also historical fiction, a drama and a big-budget action.
From Salon ● Jan. 23, 2026
The German novelist most recently authored “Tyll,” shortlisted for the 2020 International Booker Prize, and his translator, Ross Benjamin, has rendered his new historical fiction in idiomatic English prose.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2025
Atwood started the millennium winning the Booker Prize with “The Blind Assassin,” a nested novel of historical fiction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2025
This novel is a work of historical fiction.
From "Mississippi Trial, 1955" by Chris Crowe
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.
