Meaning & use
fabrication
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Meanings
nouncountable
A lie or invented story that is presented as true.
Grammar: Countable: a fabrication, several fabrications. Often used with 'pure' or 'complete'.
Patterns
- a complete fabrication
- be a fabrication
- spread fabrications about someone
The report was a complete fabrication; none of it was true.
He accused the newspaper of publishing fabrications about his private life.
Her story turned out to be a fabrication designed to protect her friend.
noununcountabletechnical
The act or process of making something, especially in a factory or workshop.
Grammar: Uncountable: the fabrication of metal parts. Not used with 'a' in this sense.
Patterns
- the fabrication of something
- metal fabrication
- fabrication process
The company specializes in the fabrication of steel bridges.
Metal fabrication requires skilled workers and heavy machinery.
The fabrication process begins with cutting the raw materials.
Word forms
| plural | fabrications |
|---|
Common combinations
- complete fabrication
- The rumor was a complete fabrication.
- pure fabrication
- His excuse was pure fabrication.
- metal fabrication
- The factory does metal fabrication for the car industry.
- fabrication of evidence
- The lawyer was accused of the fabrication of evidence.
Synonyms and how they differ
- lie
- A lie is a simple false statement; a fabrication is often a more elaborate invented story.
- falsehood
- Falsehood is a formal word for any untrue statement; fabrication stresses that the story was deliberately made up.
- manufacture
- Manufacture is the usual word for making goods in large quantities; fabrication is more technical and can refer to building structures.
Opposites
Word family
- fabricate verb
- To invent a false story, or to manufacture something.
- fabricator noun
- A person who makes things, especially metal structures, or who invents lies.
Commonly confused: fabrication or fabric?
fabrication vs fabric
Fabric is cloth or material; fabrication is the act of making something or a lie. They look similar but have different meanings.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'fabrication' in the sense of a lie?
Choose one answer.
Only option 1 uses 'fabrication' to mean an invented story. The others refer to the industrial process of making things.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fabrication”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.