fictionfic‧tion /ˈfɪkʃən/ ●●○ noun 
romantic fiction historical fiction► see thesaurus at book2[countable] something that people want you to believe is true but which is not true OPP fact: preserving the fiction of his happy childhood
WORD ORIGINfiction
Origin:
1300-1400 Old French, Latin fictus, past participle of fingere ‘to shape, make’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- a science fiction novel
- Adopting the style of romantic fiction, she said, ''I love him passionately''.
- Although it is a work of fiction, it is based on fact.
- Anthony's first books were historical fiction.
- Chandler remains the greatest exponent of detective fiction.
- His first novel won a prize for modern fiction.
- I'm taking a class in Victorian fiction.
- It can sometimes be difficult to tell fact from fiction.
- It is a fiction that unemployment can be solved by some economic theory.
- science-fiction novels
- So much modern fiction is full of sex and violence.
- The best fiction conveys the richness of life.
- The president denied that he was ill, labelling the report "pure fiction."
- This small band of women writers dominated the romantic fiction market for a number of years.
- Why is Miami such a ripe setting for crime fiction?
- No one wants to be part of a fiction, and even less so if that fiction is real.
- Such issues are the subject of information books and works of fiction.
- The fiction, however, reads like an attempt to break out of this self-imposed restriction.
- The art of fiction is dead.
- The really astonishing thing is how fiction and reality can blur.
THESAURUStypes of book
noun [countable] a book about imaginary people and events: · The film is based on Nick Hornby’s best-selling novel.· a historical novel
noun [uncountable] books that describe imaginary people and events: · She reads a lot of romantic fiction.
noun [uncountable] novels and plays that are considered to be important works of art: · I’m studying American literature at university.
noun [uncountable] books that describe real people and events: · Men tend to prefer non-fiction.
noun [uncountable] books about imaginary events in the future or space travel
noun [countable] a book such as a dictionary or encyclopedia, which you look at to find information
noun [countable] a book about a particular subject that you use in a classroom
British English British English noun [countable] a book that you have to study as part of your course
noun [countable] a book telling visitors about a city or country
noun [countable] a book for children with many pictures in it
noun [countable] a book that has a hard stiff cover
noun [countable] a book that has a paper cover
noun [countable] a book about a real person’s life, written by another person
noun [countable] a book that someone has written about their own life
British English (also cookbook American English) noun [countable] a book that tells you how to cook different meals
Longman Language Activatora book about imaginary people and events a book about people and events that the writer has imagined: · The new Sidney Shelton novel is to be adapted for film later in the year.· This is the study where Hemingway wrote the legendary novels 'Death in the Afternoon' and 'For Whom the Bell Tolls'.novel by: · The movie is based on a novel by Anne Tyler.historical novel (=about people and events in the past): · Butler has also written several historical novels under the pen-name of Jenny Melville.romantic novel (=about love): · Johnston's nudes look like cover art for romantic novels.first/debut novel (=the first novel that someone writes): · Keller's debut novel is about a Korean woman who was sold into prostitution during World War II.
books about imaginary people and events: · His first novel won a prize for modern fiction.· I'm taking a class in Victorian fiction.romantic fiction (=about love): · This small band of women writers dominated the romantic fiction market for a number of years.historical fiction (=about people and events in the past): · Anthony's first books were historical fiction.crime/detective fiction: · Why is Miami such a ripe setting for crime fiction?· Chandler remains the greatest exponent of detective fiction.
books, plays, and poems, especially famous and serious ones that people think are important: · the Nobel Prize for Literature· She is a professor of language and literature at Arizona State University.· Mitterrand's oratory and writings displayed a wide grasp of history, philosophy, religion and literature.French/Hispanic/Hebrew etc literature: · I teach Japanese literature.· She's studying European literature at the University of Illinois.
also sci-fi informal stories about things that happen in the future or in other parts of the universe: · Science fiction is often wrongly regarded as a 'lesser' form of literature.· Joanne says she is not a fan of science fiction, and has never read her husband's book.· Such developments sound like science fiction, but they're not.
informal a book about an imaginary murder case, in which you do not find out who did the murder until the end: · If you enjoy a whodunnit, you'll lap up Janet Laurence's "Hotel Morgue".· an Agatha Christie whodunnit
an exciting story, for example about a crime or war, in which surprising events happen suddenly and you never know what will happen next: · They discovered a mutual love of mysteries and thrillers.political/psychological/spy etc thriller: · Stephen King's new psychological thriller· He has written a spy thriller that recalls Fleming's James Bond series.· His latest work is a legal thriller set in Boston.
a short piece of writing in which the writer tells a story: · She started out writing short stories for the magazine 'Black Mask'.· I understand your novel was inspired by a short story by Katherine Mansfield.· a collection of American short stories
a story a description of real or imaginary events, which is told or written to entertain people: · All children love stories.· The film was OK, but I didn't think the story was very realistic.· a book of short storiestell/read somebody a story: · Sally, will you read us a story?story about: · Grandpa's always telling us stories about when he was a boystory of: · The movie tells the story of a young girl brought up in the Deep South in the 1930s.ghost/love story: · We sat around the fire telling ghost stories.fairy story (=a story about imaginary people, creatures, and events): · He looked like some giant from a fairy story.true story (=about events that really happened): · The film is based on a true story.
an exciting story about imaginary events: tale of: · 'Treasure Island' - a tale of pirates and adventuretell a tale: · She told us many tales about when our father was a child.fairy tale (=a story about imaginary creatures, people, and events): · Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales
writing that describes imaginary people and events: · So much modern fiction is full of sex and violence.work of fiction: · Although it is a work of fiction, it is based on fact.crime/romantic/historical etc fiction: · Adopting the style of romantic fiction, she said, ''I love him passionately''.science fiction (=stories about imaginary future times): · a science fiction novel
a very old story, about gods and magical creatures: · The myth tells of how the gods sent fire to the earth in flashes of lightning.· a ballet based on a Greek myth· The heroes of myth all had some point of weakness.
an old story, usually about strange events or people with magic powers: · According to legend, the whole castle was washed into the sea.legend of: · the legend of Robin Hoodlegend has it (that) (=according to legend): · Legend has it that Sarah Heln, who died in 1913, was shut alive inside a lead coffin.
a short funny story about something that really happened: · Personal anecdotes have no place in an academic essay.anecdote about: · The book is full of amusing anecdotes about his time in the police force.
a story about a series of connected events or adventures that take place over a long period of time, especially events involving one family: · The novel is a historical saga, set in Tudor times.saga of: · Her saga of the rise and fall of a powerful family dynasty was a great commercial success.
a story told in a long book, film, or poem which is about great or exciting events, especially in history: · The film was billed as an epic -- an adventure story that would take the world and the box-office by storm.· The history of a single event has been spun out to fill a 255 page epic. epic poem/hero/style etc: · the epic poem "Beowulf'
an untrue story or explanation an untrue story or explanation that you use as an excuse or to impress someone: give somebody some story: · She gave me some story about Mark being an old friend.tall tale/story: · It's the sort of tall tale about how good they are with women that guys tell in bars.cock-and-bull story especially British: · He gave me a cock-and-bull story about the glass being smashed in the storm, but it looked to me like the two of them had had a fight.
an untrue story or piece of information that someone has deliberately invented: · It can sometimes be difficult to tell fact from fiction.pure fiction (=completely untrue and invented): · The president denied that he was ill, labelling the report "pure fiction."
an untrue story or piece of information that someone has deliberately invented in order to deceive people: · Everything that was written about me in that article was a fabrication.total/pure/complete fabrication: · The defense said that the victim's story was a total fabrication designed to get revenge.
WORD SETSacrostic, nounadapt, verballiteration, nounanagram, nounannual, nounanthology, nounantihero, nounapologia, nounappendix, nounassonance, nounauthorship, nounautobiography, nounballad, nounbard, nounbathos, nounbiography, nounblank verse, nounbowdlerize, verbburlesque, nouncaesura, nouncameo, nouncanon, nouncanto, nouncaricature, nounchapter, nouncharacterization, nouncitation, nounclimax, nounclimax, verbcoda, nouncollected, adjectiveconceit, nouncorpus, nouncouplet, nouncritique, noundactyl, noundeclamatory, adjectivedeconstruction, noundense, adjectivedevice, noundialogue, noundiarist, noundiction, noundigest, noundoggerel, noundraft, noundraft, verbdrama, noundub, nounelegy, nounending, nounepic, adjectiveepigram, nounepilogue, nounepistolary, adjectiveepitaph, nounessay, nounessayist, nouneulogy, nounexegesis, nounfable, nounfairy tale, nounfantasy, nounfiction, nounfictional, adjectivefirst edition, nounfirst person, nounflashback, nounflorid, adjectiveflowery, adjectivefolk, adjectiveforeword, nounformulaic, adjectivefree verse, nounghost story, nounGothic, adjectivegrandiloquent, adjectivehaiku, nounheroic, adjectiveheroic couplet, nounhexameter, nounhumorist, nounhyperbole, nouniamb, nouniambic pentameter, nounimage, nounimagery, nouninformal, adjectiveingénue, nouninstalment, nounirony, nounjournal, nounlay, nounlimerick, nounlit., literary, adjectiveliterature, nounlyric, adjectivelyric, nounlyrical, adjectivelyricism, nounman of letters, nounmanuscript, nounmetaphor, nounmetaphorical, adjectivemetre, nounmetrical, adjectivemonologue, nounnarrative, nounnarrator, nounnaturalism, nounnaturalistic, adjectivenom de plume, nounnovel, nounnovelist, nounnovella, nounnursery rhyme, nounode, nounonomatopoeia, nounpadding, nounpaean, nounparagraph, nounparaphrase, verbparaphrase, nounparenthetical, adjectivepassage, nounpathetic fallacy, nounpen name, nounpentameter, nounperiphrasis, nounperoration, nounpicaresque, adjectiveplaywright, nounplot, nounpoem, nounpoet, nounpoetess, nounpoetic, adjectivepoetic licence, nounpoet laureate, nounpoetry, nounpolemic, nounpolemical, adjectivepotboiler, nounprécis, nounpreface, nounprefatory, adjectiveprologue, nounprose, nounprosody, nounprotagonist, nounpseudonym, nounpulp, nounquatrain, nounquotation, nounquote, verbreading, nounrecite, verbrendition, nounrevise, verbrevision, nounrhetoric, nounrhyme, nounrhyme, verbromance, nounsaga, nounsatire, nounsatirist, nounscience fiction, nounscribbler, nounscript, nounself-portrait, nounSF, Shakespearean, adjectiveshort story, nounsimile, nounsoliloquy, nounsonnet, nounstanza, nounstilted, adjectivestory, nounstream of consciousness, nounstylist, nounsubplot, nounsubtitle, nounsuperhero, nounsurrealism, nounsurrealistic, adjectivesynopsis, nountailpiece, nountale, nountalking book, nountearjerker, nountext, nountextual, adjectivetexture, nountheme, nounthriller, nountitle, nountragedian, nountragedy, nountragic, adjectivetragicomedy, nountrope, nounturgid, adjectiveunabridged, adjectiveverse, nounvignette, nounvolume, nounweepy, nounwell-turned, adjectivewhodunit, nounwriter, nounwriter's block, nounyarn, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES pulp fiction
pulp fiction (=something that is not true at all)· He dismissed the allegations as ‘pure fantasy’.
· The movie is based on a story by science-fiction writer Phillip K. Dick.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· The latest bestsellers in contemporary fiction and literary classics for every collection.· The postmodernist dilemma of periodization is vividly dramatized by these efforts to circumscribe their location in contemporary fiction.
· Unlike many of the writers of the period, Brooke-Rose is not overly preoccupied by morality in her early fiction.
· They include the writings of historians, and textbooks, stories about the past, and historical fiction.· Or to read historical fiction from those same eras!· This novel is classified as historical fiction.· City of Darkness, City of Light is a notable achievement of historical fiction, though not a flawless one.
· The Nuer legal fiction is that only men can be the owners of cattle.· The status of these and other orbitals became highly fluid, in legal fiction and in fact.· This reasoning Mr. McGregor attacks as involving a legal fiction.· It is that legal fiction which the health authority relies upon in denying liability to the plaintiff.
· It also accounts for poetry being a more natural instrument of its literary expression than fiction or drama.· Giroux, one of the most important publishers of literary fiction in the country.
· Indeed by the standards of modern fiction it is eminently worth reprinting.
· Though the novel is not the sole domain of either narrative or fiction, in contemporary Western culture it exemplifies both.· Kleiser is not the first maker of narrative fiction to romanticize death.
· The new fiction tells of a world its readers live.· On his birthday, Hal himself may hand the reins to a new science fiction image of the future.· From No. v on it was an enormous success, and inaugurated monthly shilling numbers as a method of publishing new fiction.· The restoration of the classics opened up a new world of fiction.· The political aspects of the new fiction are hardly easier to generalise.· That is the fruitful ambiguity on which the new fiction was based.
· But apart from spasmodic translations of some popular fiction and poetry, they don't do much work.· In any case for the library user the style of popular books - particularly popular fiction - is often not a preoccupation.
· Ivana insists the tome is pure fiction.· But the schedule was pure fiction.· Since all taxes are compulsory, earmarking is a pure fiction.· This twin of yours is pure fiction, but I do think you know who Garry's new love is.· But they can be pure crime fiction and fine crime fiction too.
· In short, a romantic fiction of unashamed sentimentality.· The earlier feminist critics such as McRobbie and Garber argued that girls learned their roles partly through romantic fiction and girls' magazines.· I saw a picture of Jane Asher in the same suit at a romantic fiction judging evening.
· Except for my short fiction, all my work was paid for but was not what I wanted to say.· With Loverboys, Castillo turns her formidable gifts to short fiction.
· Sometimes their life stories are so unusual that truth is stranger than fiction.· Truth was sort of stranger than fiction.· You might say reality is stranger than fiction.· Sir, we used to joke that truth is always stranger than fiction.
NOUN· Most of the other forms of crime fiction spring from it, either in angry reaction or attempted improvement.· Borden Stoppelgard stockpiled first-edition crime fiction.· The crime short story One last, last branch of crime fiction, the short story.· But the who-dun-it tug is not the only resource you have in writing comic crime fiction.· From this we can go on to discover one of the rules for this sort of crime fiction.· In recent years mystery with history has become a fairly popular sub-genre of crime fiction.· But they can be pure crime fiction and fine crime fiction too.
· But it has been in existence for almost as long as there has been detective fiction.
· Neither robot looks much like the androids portrayed in science fiction movies.· Writer and director Luc Besson sacrifices sensibility for style in this excessively fashion-designed science fiction movie.
· He started reading pulp fiction in the year he lost his job and began producing mystery stories based on its formulas.
· Like most romance fiction, Medical Romances incorporate a number of standard romance conventions.· As romance fiction blossomed, a number of organizations and publications developed to serve it.· Reviews, lists, and bibliographies are other sources of romance fiction information for the librarian.
· That can not be promised here, though a holistic perspective is taken on literary stylistics in addressing science fiction.· Other people love science fiction or biographies.· One might be interested in modernist writing and another in science fiction, for example.· Hartmann, for example, writes classic science fiction and non-fiction about Mars.· A historical adventure would be followed by a science fiction tale, then by another historical, and so on.· Writer and director Luc Besson sacrifices sensibility for style in this excessively fashion-designed science fiction movie.· Reading, particularly science fiction, travelling, and fell walking.· Undoubtedly the most modern method devised to preserve human bodies might well be said to belong to the realm of science fiction.
· It is doubtful whether fiction writers are public benefactors, or their publishers philanthropists.· We received the term courtesy of William Gibson, a science fiction writer.· But, as we can now see, it was like being a science fiction writer really.· How many up-and-coming fiction writers are former aerospace engineers?· Unbelievable, but true. 25 year old, Charles Cockell is no science fiction writer.· No psychiatry nonsense, no mumbo jumbo about theories and the other paraphernalia of the fiction writer.· That was the dream of solar sailing, so beloved of both scientists and science fiction writers.· The earliest appearance in print seems to be in a 1950 story by the science fiction writer Eric Frank Russell.
VERB· No Prime Minister after Macmillan would maintain the fiction that Britain was on equal terms with the super-powers.
· They've been reading too much space fiction.· Or to read historical fiction from those same eras!· Men read science fiction to build the future.· He started reading pulp fiction in the year he lost his job and began producing mystery stories based on its formulas.
· She was a well-known author in her day, writing fiction, biographies, translations, and even plays for children.· From his well-appointed quarters at the asylum, the Marquis has continued to write his famously horrid fiction.· He encouraged her to write fiction.· Hartmann, for example, writes classic science fiction and non-fiction about Mars.· But the who-dun-it tug is not the only resource you have in writing comic crime fiction.· Of course, you also need a crime to write your crime fiction about, a story thread for your feelings of nostalgia.· He enjoys a second career authoring books on legal subjects and has contemplated writing fiction.
WORD FAMILYadjectivefictionalfictitiousnon-fictionnounfictionnon-fictionverbfictionalize
1[uncountable] books and stories about imaginary people and events OPP non-fiction: romantic fiction historical fiction► see thesaurus at book2[countable] something that people want you to believe is true but which is not true OPP fact: preserving the fiction of his happy childhood