fictionalize

[ fik-shuh-nl-ahyz ]

verb (used with object)

, fic·tion·al·ized, fic·tion·al·iz·ing.

1. to make into fiction; give a somewhat imaginative or fictional version of:

   to fictionalize a biography.

fictionalize

/ ˈfɪkʃənəˌlaɪz /

verb

1. tr to make into fiction or give a fictional aspect to

Derived Forms

• ˌfictionaliˈzation, noun

Other Words From

• fiction·al·i·zation noun
• fiction·al·izer noun
• semi·fiction·al·ized adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of fictionalize¹

First recorded in 1920–25; fictional ( def ) + -ize

Example Sentences

Thorny relationships between women are something of a specialty for Mortimer, who fictionalized the uneasy power dynamics that governed her friendship with Wells in HBO comedy Doll & Em.

From Time

The series, a lightly fictionalized version of the podcast, stars Joshua Jackson as the slick and overconfident Duntsch.

From Time

The case has been fictionalized and debated constantly in the intervening seven decades, but today’s world offers a new way to tell Ethel’s story.

From Time

Although the book is fictionalized, “Fatima’s story is my story,” Tariq says.

From Outside Online

Now, nearly two years later, he’s written a lightly fictionalized version of how Big Tech companies operate and the burden they put on some of their employees.

From Fortune

Related Words

• fabricate