Jump To:

• Truth is stranger than fiction
  Truth is stranger than fiction

  Sometimes what actually happens is more bizarre than anything that could have been imagined.
• truth is stranger than fiction
  truth is stranger than fiction

  Real life can be more remarkable than invented tales, as in In our two-month trip around the world we ran into long-lost relatives on three separate occasions, proving that truth is stranger than fiction. This expression may have been invented by Byron, who used it in Don Juan (1833).

Truth is stranger than fiction

Cultural  

1. Sometimes what actually happens is more bizarre than anything that could have been imagined.

---

truth is stranger than fiction Idioms  

1. Real life can be more remarkable than invented tales, as in In our two-month trip around the world we ran into long-lost relatives on three separate occasions, proving that truth is stranger than fiction. This expression may have been invented by Byron, who used it in Don Juan (1833).

---

Example Sentences

When truth is stranger than fiction, it is often easier to disbelieve, at least until the facts make it impossible to ignore reality.

From Salon • Jan. 24, 2024

Feldstein: I think it’s the truest example of the truth is stranger than fiction, because that day from start to finish is still hard for me to process now.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 2022

But truth is stranger than fiction, as the women fired at Bumani were replaced by other female associate—albeit much older than the ones fired.

From Slate • Jul. 16, 2020

No, just another moment when truth is stranger than fiction.

From New York Times • Apr. 15, 2016

"Perhaps you've heard that old saying," Grace remarked, with her usual languor, "that truth is stranger than fiction?"

From The Outdoor Girls in Army Service Or, doing their bit for the soldier boys by Hope, Laura Lee