Synonyms

fictional

American

[fik-shuhn-l] / ˈfɪk ʃən l /

adjective

invented as part of a work of fiction.

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective.
of, like, or characterized by fiction.

He used a fictional situation to explain the subject.

Usage

What’s the difference between fictional, fictitious, and fictive? Fictional means invented as part of a work of fiction, as in Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective or This account is entirely fictional—it’s not based on a true story. Fictitious most commonly means false or made up, as in I signed in with a fictitious name to hide my identity. Fictive is a much less commonly used word that means imaginary or relating to or capable of creating fiction, as in a fictive imagination.Confusingly, their meanings can overlap—fictitious can sometimes mean the same thing as fictional, and fictive can sometimes mean the same thing as fictitious. It can be tough to remember which word is the right one to use since all three are adjectives that are used in contexts involving things that are imagined or made up.Still, they are usually used in pretty specific ways. Fictional is almost always applied to stories and characters that are part of creative works, like books and movies, whereas fictitious is most commonly used in the context of things that are made up to conceal something or deceive someone in real life. Fictitious can usually be replaced with the word fake—this is not the case for fictional.Here’s an example of fictional, fictitious and fictive used correctly in the same sentence.Example: Instead of using fictitious names that no one would notice, his aliases were the names of fictional characters, like Clark Kent and Peter Parker—you would think a con artist would have a more fictive imagination.Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between fictional, fictitious, and fictive.

Other Word Forms

fictionally adverb

Etymology

Origin of fictional

First recorded in 1840–45; fiction ( def. ) + -al ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

After all, how many fictional characters have an award from the Brooklyn Museum’s Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, presented to them by Gloria Steinem?

From Salon

Sentiment around the sector remains on a hair trigger, and it won’t take much to knock it back down, like a fictional Substack post on Monday that sent the software ETF down 4.8%.

From Barron's

In installments, its author, Harriet Beecher Stowe, poured forth the tragic tale of the life of Uncle Tom, a fictional, enslaved Black man.

From Literature

Both Mackay and Murphy, who has reported on some of the UK's most complex criminal cases, served as consultants on the TV series, which looks at a fictional case.

From BBC

Group annual revenue dropped 21 percent to £1.258 billion as car sales for the brand beloved by fictional British spy James Bond fell 10 percent to 5,448.

From Barron's

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023