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• 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.

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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).

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Example Sentences

But, as they say, truth is stranger than fiction and viewers won’t soon forget the film’s devastating conclusion.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 12, 2025

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

If you don’t believe that truth is stranger than fiction, it’s time for you to learn about the Isaiah Silva vs.

From Slate • Jun. 1, 2018

Ms. Kraviz has the kind of story that proves truth is stranger than fiction: She’s a former dentist from Siberia who is now one of the world’s most sought-after D.J.s.

From New York Times • May 24, 2018

Verily, truth is stranger than fiction and the pen is mightier than the sword.

From The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 8 Epigrams, On With the Dance, Negligible Tales by Bierce, Ambrose