Meaning & use

fictitious

adjective·Academic

Invented or imagined rather than real; not true or factually accurate.

See it in a sentence

The novelist gave her characters fictitious names to protect the identities of real people.

Any resemblance between the fictitious company and a real business is purely coincidental.

A note on using this word

Fictitious often appears in legal or formal disclaimers, distinguishing invented details from factual ones.

Words with a similar meaning

imaginaryinventedmade-up

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

realgenuine

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