fiction
noun
Simple meaning
A verbal or written account that is not based on actual events.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
fikshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfɪkʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A verbal or written account that is not based on actual events (often intended to mislead).
law
A legal fiction.
literature
Literary type using invented or imaginative writing, instead of real facts, usually written as prose.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A verbal or written account that is not based on actual events (often intended to mislead).
Used this way, fiction is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It criticises, but without shouting.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Critical but measured
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use fiction
- “The butler's account of the crime was pure fiction.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Related to A verbal or written account that is not based on actual events (often intended to mislead).
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Literary fantasy involving the imagined impact of science on society.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Animals that exist only in fiction (usually in children's stories).
An imaginary person represented in a work of fiction (play or film or story).
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.