fictional
- 01 B1 Intermediate
describes a person, place, or thing that is invented for a story and does not exist in real life.
denoting characters, locations, or events created by the imagination and not based on historical or physical reality.
Simple“Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character who lives in London.”
In context“The author created a fictional world with its own unique laws of physics and complex social structures.”
PitfallThe movie is based on a fictional story. The movie is a fictional story.While you can say 'based on a true story', 'fictional' already means it is invented, so 'based on a fictional story' is often redundant unless the movie is based on a book.
Antonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
describes a story or book that uses some made-up parts even if it is based on real events.
relating to the genre of fiction; containing elements of invention or imaginative construction.
Simple“The film is a fictional account of the king's early life.”
In context“The memoir was criticised for its fictional elements, as several key witnesses claimed the events did not occur as described.”
From fiction + -al.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.