as in fictional
not real and existing only in the imagination
his wartime exploits turned out to be entirely fictitious, as he had never even been in the military
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Recent Examples of fictitious
This family saga is set in the fictitious northwestern Ohio town of Bonhomie, founded in 1857 on land made fertile by a melting Canadian glacier.
—
Literary Hub, 21 Jan. 2026
Arnezeder plays Nina, a young French girl who leaves her native Marseille and accepts her first job as a receptionist at a luxurious hotel resort in a fictitious island named Mathara, hoping for a better life.
—Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 18 Jan. 2026
Prosecutors noted that even after Navy officials began to scrutinize his activities, Butler attempted to conceal his identity by using a fake name and feigning employment with a fictitious fuel division of a separate company.
—Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 16 Jan. 2026
Audits released in December found that the city's aviation department lacked oversight of over 90% of their non-construction contracts, and outed a former Austin Energy employee for stealing nearly $1 million in public money by routing contracts to fictitious vendors.
—Chaya Tong, Austin American Statesman, 15 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fictitious
Literary Hub, 21 Jan. 2026
Arnezeder plays Nina, a young French girl who leaves her native Marseille and accepts her first job as a receptionist at a luxurious hotel resort in a fictitious island named Mathara, hoping for a better life.
—Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 18 Jan. 2026
Prosecutors noted that even after Navy officials began to scrutinize his activities, Butler attempted to conceal his identity by using a fake name and feigning employment with a fictitious fuel division of a separate company.
—Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 16 Jan. 2026
Audits released in December found that the city's aviation department lacked oversight of over 90% of their non-construction contracts, and outed a former Austin Energy employee for stealing nearly $1 million in public money by routing contracts to fictitious vendors.
—Chaya Tong, Austin American Statesman, 15 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for fictitious
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fictitious
Adjective
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The difference between documentary approaches and fictional approaches to a musical figure — at heart, there’s no difference at all.—
Daniel D'Addario,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2026
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But in a first for Marvel, Abdul-Mateen II was not there as himself, but rather in character as Simon Williams to discuss the fictional Wonder Man movie that is central to season one of the Disney+ show.—
Aaron Couch,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Finally, the researchers did another version of the original test but used imaginary grapes instead of juice, with similar results.—
Evan Bush,
NBC news,
5 Feb. 2026
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Unfortunately, the new love in your life may be imaginary and only after your bank account.—
C. A. Bridges,
Florida Times-Union,
4 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The series follows a teenage boy who forms an unlikely alliance with the Fairy Queen of Celtic lore to search for malevolent mythical creatures from around the world, among them the Yeti, Baba Yaga and a Lady Dracula — not to destroy them, but to save them from impending doom.—
Ed Meza,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2026
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Jones portrays the fierce warrior Prince Vlad of Wallachia, who goes on to become the mythical Dracula.—
Hanna Wickes,
Kansas City Star,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The experiments together suggest that Kanzi was able to distinguish an imagined scenario from the present reality and keep both in mind.—
Evan Bush,
NBC news,
5 Feb. 2026
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So, the transactional world is constantly pushing us out of the present and redirecting us to an imagined future.—
Bill Burnett,
Big Think,
5 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Fictitious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fictitious. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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