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
I also enjoy all the metafiction in there.
From Salon ● Nov. 21, 2022
It’s a high-wire act of metafiction, and it works.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2022
Italian author Italo Calvino is considered a master of metafiction, a genre of writing in which the author breaks the fourth wall to discuss the act of writing itself.
From New York Times ● Apr. 15, 2022
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
