metafiction
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of metafiction
First recorded in 1975–80
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.
As metafiction goes, it could hardly be more poignant, though poignancy is not the author’s style.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
Blurring the lines between fiction and reality — everyone on screen is playing a version of themselves — the result is a tongue-in-cheek metafiction about the pitfalls of an industry that prioritizes productivity over people.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2025
The traumas of “The New Earth” repeatedly prompt intrusions concerning long prose narratives themselves: bold forays into metafiction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 27, 2023
I also enjoy all the metafiction in there.
From Salon ● Nov. 21, 2022
For instance, using the ‘‘instruct’’ mode, I once gave GPT-3 the prompt: ‘‘Write an essay discussing the role of metafiction in the work of Italo Calvino.’’
From New York Times ● Apr. 15, 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.
