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

Ms. Pollack was widely admired for her works of speculative fiction, which touched on themes of magic, mythology, religion and sexuality.

From Washington Post

“Spear,” Nicola Griffith’s “queer Arthurian masterpiece for the modern era,” earned The Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction, while he Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction prize went to Aamina Ahmad’s “The Return of Faraz Ali,” in which a young girl meets a violent death in Lahore’s red-light district.

From Los Angeles Times

Pollack was widely admired for her works of speculative fiction, which touched on themes of magic, mythology, religion and sexuality.

From Seattle Times

Matheson was speculative fiction’s dime-store Camus, the existential pulp genius behind “The Incredible Shrinking Man,” “Duel” and a good third of all the great “Twilight Zone” episodes.

From Los Angeles Times

L.A. didn’t just invent noir; it midwifed speculative fiction.

From Los Angeles Times