world-building

world build·ing
Or world·build·ing

[wurld-bil-ding]

noun

1. the process of developing a detailed and plausible fictional world for a novel or story, especially in science fiction, fantasy, and video games.

   Drawing a convincing map with boundaries and landscape features is a natural starting point for world-building.

Other Word Forms

• world-build verb (used without object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of world-building¹

First recorded in 1820–25, referring to or contrasted with the Biblical creation of the world

Example Sentences

Though far less posh, “The Conjuring” likewise nailed the world-building aspects of its place and time.

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Today’s games also have more cinematic qualities than in the past, with overarching storylines and detailed world-building.

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Looking back now, it’s clear the band’s blend of drama and emotion — of world-building and bloodletting — set a crucial template for a generation or two of subsequent acts, from bands like Twenty One Pilots to rappers like the late Juice Wrld to a gloomy pop singer like Sombr, whose viral hit “Back to Friends” luxuriates in a kind of glamorous misery.

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When movies are treated as malleable, disposable world-building over actual filmmaking, it’s no wonder that the stars of MCU movies don’t seem to care about the films they’re in at all.

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As a VTuber — that is, virtual YouTuber — Mariya is part of a movement, one led by those weaned on Japanese animation who are now finding ways to make fantasy world-building feel individualized and personal.

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