nonfiction

American  

[non-fik-shuhn] / nɒnˈfɪk ʃən /

noun

1. the branch of literature comprising works of narrative prose dealing with or offering opinions or conjectures upon facts and reality, including biography, history, and the essay (opposed to fiction and distinguished from poetry anddrama ).

2. works of this class.

   She had read all of his novels but none of his nonfiction.

3. (especially in cataloging books, as in a library or bookstore) all writing or books not fiction, poetry, or drama, including nonfictive narrative prose and reference works; the broadest category of written works.

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nonfiction British  

/ ˌnɒnˈfɪkʃən /

noun

1. writing dealing with facts and events rather than imaginative narration

2. (modifier) relating to or denoting nonfiction

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Other Word Forms

• nonfictional
  adjective
• nonfictionally
  adverb

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Etymology

Origin of nonfiction

First recorded in 1905–10; non- + fiction

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Explanation

When you read nonfiction, you're reading about something that really happened — it's not a story somebody made up. Prose is divided into the two big categories of fiction and nonfiction, and nonfiction includes all kinds of things — biographies, histories, memoirs, how-to books, self-help, books on business, even books on writing. Narrative nonfiction relates stories that really happened but in a way that draws you in just like fiction does; it tells a true story, but with lots of drama and all the interesting quirks of the characters.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nonfiction

Jess Joho is a Brazilian-American writer based in L.A. whose work ranges from nonfiction to fiction, arts/culture criticism and magical realism.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026

Yet the incorporation into this already complex dynamic of the class divide—which figures here as something like a barbed-wire fence that’s draped in velvet—further sharpens the exploitative edge of nonfiction cinema’s natural voyeurism.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

New Yorker staff writer Lawrence Wright’s latest nonfiction narrative, “Redemption,” begins with an intriguing, real-life premise: an unlikely series of encounters between seven female convicts on Texas’ death row and a convent of nuns.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

She has spoken of her interest in lying and duplicity, and has consistently, fruitfully, positioned her work on the border of fiction and nonfiction.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

"But when I write, I like getting deeper into the issues and thinking critically about them. I love argument. So, nonfiction, I guess."

From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins

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