nonfiction

nonfiction — noun

1. Books, articles, films, or other content that deal with real people, events, and

1.nounB2
Definition

Books, articles, films, or other content that deal with real people, events, and facts — as opposed to imagined or invented stories.

Example

Lucas prefers reading nonfiction about historical events rather than fantasy novels.

collocation: nonfiction about [topic]

The library's nonfiction section includes many books about science and nature.

collocation: nonfiction section

Common collocations
  • nonfiction book
  • nonfiction writer
  • nonfiction section
  • nonfiction work
  • nonfiction literature
  • nonfiction film
  • read nonfiction
  • write nonfiction
Synonyms
  • factual writing

    a descriptive synonym emphasizing accuracy over imagination

  • documentary

    usually refers specifically to film or television, not print

  • true story

    more common in casual conversation; less formal than 'nonfiction'

Antonyms
  • fiction

    the direct opposite — invented stories rather than real events

Grammar Patterns

nonfiction + noun (as modifier)

uncountable: no article needed

Usage Note

Frequently used attributively (before a noun): e.g., 'nonfiction book', 'nonfiction writer'. As an uncountable noun, it does not normally take a plural form or an indefinite article.

Common Mistakes

I read three nonfictions this month.
I read three nonfiction books this month.
nonfiction is uncountable; use 'work of nonfiction' or 'nonfiction book' for countable references.
This is a nonfiction.
This is a work of nonfiction.
an indefinite article sounds unnatural before uncountable nouns.

Word family

  • nonfictional
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Nonfiction is the broadest term, covering any written or visual content based on real events — from history books and biographies to science articles and documentaries. Factual writing overlaps with nonfiction but is more often used to describe the style or approach rather than a genre category; a school textbook is factual writing but rarely called 'nonfiction' in everyday speech. Documentary is narrower: it refers almost exclusively to film or television projects that present real events, whereas nonfiction also includes books, magazine articles, and essays. True story is the most informal option, common in conversation ('I love a good true story'), but it lacks the precision of nonfiction because it can also refer to a single real-life anecdote rather than a sustained work. Choose nonfiction in academic or library contexts; use documentary for films; and save true story for casual retellings of something that actually happened.

nonfiction ↗factual writingdocumentary ↗true story

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • strictly nonfiction
  • purely nonfiction
  • mostly nonfiction

Phrases

  • a work of nonfiction
  • the line between fiction and nonfiction
  • a piece of nonfiction

Prepositions

  • in nonfiction
  • between fiction and nonfiction

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Formed by adding the prefix non- (meaning 'not') to the noun fiction, which comes from Latin fictio ('a making, fashioning, feigning'), from fingere ('to shape, form, invent'). The word nonfiction was first recorded in English around the mid-19th century, originally in library cataloguing, to label books that were not novels or stories.