speculative fiction

American  

[spek-yuh-luh-tiv fik-shuhn, -leytiv] / ˈspɛk yə lə tɪv ˈfɪk ʃən, -ˌleɪtɪv /

noun

1. a broad category of fiction encompassing any story that contains imaginative, futuristic, or supernatural elements.

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speculative fiction British  

noun

1. a broad literary genre encompassing any fiction with supernatural, fantastical, or futuristic elements

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Etymology

Origin of speculative fiction

Coined in 1947 by Robert A. Heinlein ( def. ) in his essay On the Writing of Speculative Fiction, in which he differentiates between science fiction stories that focus on fictional technologies and stories that focus on the societal impact of such technologies

Example Sentences

For years, the simulation hypothesis was regarded as untestable, confined to the realms of philosophy and speculative fiction.

From Science Daily • Nov. 10, 2025

Celebrated writers Ivy Pochoda, Steph Cha and Jonathan Lethem imagine the future lives of Angelenos in these works of speculative fiction.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 10, 2025

Many speculative fiction writers say some version of this whenever people point out disturbing similarities in their shows and movies to current events.

From Salon • May 7, 2025

“What’s the function of a galaxy?” the speculative fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin once asked.

From Slate • Feb. 7, 2025

The work hardly lends itself to critical remark other than the expression of one's appreciation of an imaginative and glowing style likely to add to the pleasure of those who enjoy purely speculative fiction.

From The Great War in England in 1897 by Le Queux, William