fictive

adjective

fic·​tive ˈfik-tiv 

1

: not genuine : feigned

2

: of, relating to, or capable of imaginative creation

3

: of, relating to, or having the characteristics of fiction : fictional

fictively adverb

fictiveness noun

Examples of fictive in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Events remain piercingly actual and threatening in their effects on real people, while also being duplicated in a fictive system that shows and spoofs them at the same time. —Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2024

Tidy narratives of progress—always somewhat fictive, useful to journalists and publicists more than to consumers and artists—started to degrade. —Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 2 Oct. 2024

So being connected, even this fictive version of reading the New York Times every day, that was part of that. —Jason Simon, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2024

Set at the outbreak of World War I, this fictive tale of invading German forces wreaking havoc in the Belgian countryside depicts just one arena for violence in a conflict that would drag on for another four years. —Dennis Harvey, Variety, 8 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Medieval Latin fictīvus "imaginative, imaginary," from Latin fictus, past participle of fingere "to mold, fashion, make a likeness of, pretend to be" + -īvus -ive — more at feign

First Known Use

1612, in the meaning defined at sense 1