fiction

/'fikʃn/
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fiction

She enjoys reading a work of fiction before bed.

Definition
  1. Noun (Uncountable):

    • Literature created from imagination: The general category or genre of written works, such as novels and short stories, that describe imaginary people, events, and worlds. It is the opposite of non-fiction.
    • Something invented or imagined: An idea, statement, or narrative that is not true or is invented, not necessarily in a literary context.
  2. Noun (Countable):

    • A specific invented story or idea: A particular instance of something that is not true.
Examples of Usage
  • Noun (Uncountable):

    • She enjoys reading fiction more than history books.
    • The line between fiction and reality is often blurred in his writing.
    • His excuse was pure fiction.
  • Noun (Countable):

    • He told a convincing fiction about where he had been.
    • The novel is a beautiful fiction about a lost civilization.
Advanced Usage
  • "Legal fiction": A factual assumption made by a court to allow a rule or law to operate, even if it is not strictly true. For example, treating a corporation as a "person" in law is a legal fiction.
    • The court employed a legal fiction to hear the case.
Variants and Related Words
  • Fictional (adjective): Relating to or occurring in fiction; invented.
    • The story is set in a fictional town.
  • Fictitious (adjective): Not real or true; imaginary or fabricated.
    • He used a fictitious name to register.
  • Non-fiction (noun): Writing that is based on facts, real events, and real people, such as history or biography.
Synonyms
  • Fabrication: Something invented or concocted, often to deceive.
  • Invention: Something created by the imagination.
  • Novel/Story (for literary works): A long written narrative about imaginary characters and events.
  • Figment: An imaginary thing, often used in the phrase "a figment of [one's] imagination."
Related Phrases
  • Science fiction: A genre of fiction that imaginatively explores futuristic concepts like advanced science, technology, space exploration, and alien life.
    • "Dune" is a classic work of science fiction.
  • Historical fiction: A genre where the story is set in the past, blending historical facts with fictional characters or events.
    • She writes historical fiction about the Tudor period.
Related Idioms
  • "Truth is stranger than fiction": Real events are often more surprising or bizarre than stories that are invented.
    • When I heard what really happened, I realized truth is stranger than fiction.
fiction

She enjoys reading a work of fiction before bed.

Noun
  1. a deliberately false or improbable account
  2. a literary work based on the imagination and not necessarily on fact