speculative fiction

[ spek-yuh-luh-tiv fik-shuhn, -ley tiv ]

/ ˈspɛk yə lə tɪv ˈfɪk ʃən, -ˌleɪ tɪv /

Save This Word!

noun

a broad category of fiction encompassing any story that contains imaginative, futuristic, or supernatural elements.See also fantasy (def. 9), science fiction.

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of speculative fiction

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

Words nearby speculative fiction

spectrum disorder, specular, speculate, speculation, speculative, speculative fiction, speculative philosophy, speculator, speculum, speculum metal, sped

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use speculative fiction in a sentence

The pulps brought new readers to serious fiction, making it less intimidating with alluring art and low prices.
How Pulp Fiction Saved Literature|Wendy Smith|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
There was a lot of prison fiction from movies and books to mine.
‘Archer’ Creator Adam Reed Spills Season 6 Secrets, From Surreal Plotlines to Life Post-ISIS|Marlow Stern|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
While politics tend to migrate toward the poles, humanity—and fiction, at its best—huddles in between.
The 2014 Novel of the Year|Nathaniel Rich|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The ghost writer in question is assumed to be one Siobhan Curham—an established author of both YA and adult fiction.
Meet Zoella—The Newbie Author Whose Book Sales Topped J.K. Rowling|Lucy Scholes|December 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST

They hire other people to write their books for them, whether memoir or fiction.
Meet Zoella—The Newbie Author Whose Book Sales Topped J.K. Rowling|Lucy Scholes|December 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A true history of the Merrill Horse, and the adventures of its different members, would read like the most exciting fiction.
The Courier of the Ozarks|Byron A. Dunn
Her youthful vanity had its way in a mind too speculative, intelligent, observant, merely to be shocked.
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton
Certainly The Cheats establishes her in my mind as our first writer of historical fiction.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 158, April 28, 1920|Various
One of the most humorous tales of modern fiction, combined with a very tender and appealing love story.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol|William J. Locke
Ere joining the "Friends," she had been induced to give up, not only writing fiction, but reading it also.
The Childhood of Distinguished Women|Selina A. Bower

British Dictionary definitions for speculative fiction

speculative fiction

noun

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

Word Origin for speculative fiction

C20

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012