Standard Lemma guide

fictitious

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Australian, Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /fɪkˈtɪʃəs/
  • US: Colorado Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪʃəs
  • CMU ARPABET: F IH0 K T IH1 SH AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Invented; contrived.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: imaginary, invented, contrived, fictive, fabled

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

adopted in order to deceive

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • an assumed name
  • an assumed cheerfulness
  • a fictitious address
  • fictive sympathy
  • a pretended interest
  • a put-on childish voice
  • sham modesty

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: assumed, false, fictive, pretended, put on, sham

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

formed or conceived by the imagination

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a fabricated excuse for his absence
  • a fancied wrong
  • a fictional character

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fabricated, fancied, fictional

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dheyǵh- Proto-Indo-European *-né- Proto-Indo-European *dhinéǵhti Proto-Italic *θingō Proto-Italic *fingōder. Latin fingō Latin fictus Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -īcus Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -īcius Latin fictīciusbor. English fictitious Borrowed from Latin fictīcius.

Across languages

Translations

56 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: مُخْتَلَق (muḵtalaq) — invented
  • Asturian: ficticiu — invented
  • Belarusian: вы́думаны (výdumany) — invented
  • Belarusian: фікты́ўны (fiktýwny) — invented
  • Belarusian: выабража́льны (vyabražálʹny) — invented
  • Bulgarian: изми́слен (izmíslen) — invented
  • Bulgarian: въобра́жаем (vǎobrážaem) — invented
  • Bulgarian: фикти́вен (fiktíven) — invented
  • Catalan: fictici — invented
  • Chinese Mandarin: 編造的 /编造的 (biānzào de) — invented
  • Chinese Mandarin: 虛構的 /虚构的 (xūgòu de) — invented
  • Czech: smyšlený — invented
  • Czech: fiktivní — invented
  • Danish: fiktiv — invented
  • Dutch: fictief — invented
  • Finnish: keksitty — invented
  • French: fictif — invented
  • Galician: ficticio — invented
  • German: erfunden — invented
  • German: fiktiv — invented
  • Hindi: मनगढ़ंत (managṛhant) — invented
  • Hindi: कल्पित (kalpit) — invented
  • Hungarian: képzelt — invented
  • Italian: fittizio — invented
  • Korean: 허구적 (heogujeok) — invented
  • Latin: fictus — invented
  • Latin: commentus — invented
  • Macedonian: измислен (izmislen) — invented
  • Macedonian: фиктивен (fiktiven) — invented
  • Malayalam: സാങ്കൽപ്പിക (sāṅkalppika) — invented
  • Norwegian Bokmål: fiktiv — invented
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: fiktiv — invented
  • Occitan: fictiu — invented
  • Occitan: fictici — invented
  • Polish: fikcyjny — invented
  • Polish: zmyślony — invented
  • Portuguese: fictício — invented
  • Romanian: fictiv — invented
  • Romanian: născocit — invented
  • Russian: фикти́вный (fiktívnyj) — invented
  • Russian: вы́мышленный (výmyšlennyj) — invented
  • Russian: подде́льный (poddélʹnyj) — invented
  • Scottish Gaelic: breugach — invented
  • Serbo-Croatian: ѝзмишљен — invented
  • Serbo-Croatian: фѝктӣван — invented
  • Serbo-Croatian: ìzmišljen — invented
  • Serbo-Croatian: fìktīvan — invented
  • Slovak: vymyslený — invented
  • Slovak: fiktívny — invented
  • Slovene: izmišljen — invented
  • Slovene: fiktiven — invented
  • Spanish: ficticio — invented
  • Spanish: inventado — invented
  • Swedish: fiktiv — invented
  • Ukrainian: ви́гаданий (výhadanyj) — invented
  • Ukrainian: фікти́вний (fiktývnyj) — invented
Real reading context

fictitious in complete knowledge articles