fictional
adjective
Simple meaning
Containing invented elements.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
fikshuhnuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfɪkʃənəl
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.
adjective
Invented, as opposed to real.
Related to or involving literary fiction
Containing invented elements.
Occurring in fiction.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Invented, as opposed to real.
Used this way, fictional is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use fictional
- “Clever fictional devices.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
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).
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Prose writing that is not fictional.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Antonyms
Sense: invented or as opposed to real
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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.