fictional

fictional — adjective

1. invented as part of a story, film, or other creative work rather than being a re

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

invented as part of a story, film, or other creative work rather than being a real person, place, or event

Example

The novel is set in a fictional town called Northfield in the 1800s.

fictional + noun describing places in stories

Ravindra created a fictional superhero for his school writing project.

Common collocations
  • fictional character
  • fictional world
  • fictional story
  • fictional account
  • fictional setting
Synonyms
  • imaginary

    broader term; can describe anything existing only in the mind, including daydreams or fears

  • made-up

    informal; common in everyday conversation

  • fictitious

    often implies deception or false pretence rather than creative storytelling

Antonyms
  • real

    opposite of imaginary

  • true

    opposite of invented

  • factual

    based on facts rather than imagination

Grammar Patterns

fictional + noun

be + fictional

Usage Note

Commonly used attributively before nouns (fictional character, fictional world). Distinguish from 'fictitious', which often carries a negative sense of being deliberately made up to deceive.

Common Mistakes

The politician's claims were completely fictional.
The politician's claims were completely fictitious.
'fictional' is for stories and creative works; 'fictitious' suggests deliberate falsehood meant to deceive.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

The words imaginary, fictitious, made-up, and unreal all describe things that are not real, but they differ in tone and typical use. Imaginary is the broadest term—it can describe anything that exists only in the mind, including daydreams, fears, or creative ideas. Fictitious often carries a whiff of deception; a fictitious name is one used to hide a real identity. Made-up is informal and conversational, common in everyday speech: a made-up excuse. Unreal can mean either imaginary or surreal, and sometimes implies strangeness rather than pure invention. Of the four, only fictional is specifically tied to stories and creative works; a fictional character belongs to a novel or film, not to a courtroom or a child's imagination.

imaginary ↗fictitious ↗made-upunreal ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • fictional version of
  • fictional account of

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

From Latin fictio ('a making, a shaping, a feigning'), via French fiction into English, combined with the adjective suffix -al. The noun fiction dates to the 15th century, and the adjective fictional became common in English by the early 19th century as the language of literary criticism developed.