1
a
: something invented by the imagination or feigned
specifically
: an invented story
… I'd found out that the story of the ailing son was pure fiction. —
Andrew A. Rooney
Andrew A. Rooney
b
: fictitious literature (such as novels or short stories)
was renowned as a writer of fiction
c
: a work of fiction
2
a
: an assumption of a possibility as a fact irrespective of the question of its truth
a legal fiction
b
: a useful illusion or pretense
it was only a fiction of independence his mother gave him; he was almost totally under her power—G. A. Wagner
G. A. Wagner3
: the action of feigning or of creating with the imagination
She engaged in fiction to escape painful realities.
Synonyms
Examples of fiction in a Sentence
She believes the fiction that crime rates are up.
most stories about famous outlaws of the Old West are fictions that have little or nothing to do with fact
Recent Examples on the Web
Mann published no fiction for the duration of the war.
—George Packer, The Atlantic, 5 Nov. 2024
That is to say, fiction should, to my mind, slightly eclipse the author’s own understanding of it.
—Deborah Treisman, The New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2024
Its reading committee chose three fiction and two documentary projects for production support and one fiction project for post-production support.
—Patrick Frater, Variety, 1 Nov. 2024
The firewall separating truth from fiction has critically broken.
—Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 1 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for fiction 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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George Packer, The Atlantic, 5 Nov. 2024
That is to say, fiction should, to my mind, slightly eclipse the author’s own understanding of it.
—Deborah Treisman, The New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2024
Its reading committee chose three fiction and two documentary projects for production support and one fiction project for post-production support.
—Patrick Frater, Variety, 1 Nov. 2024
The firewall separating truth from fiction has critically broken.
—Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 1 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for fiction
Dictionary Entries Near fiction
Cite this Entry
“Fiction.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fiction. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
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