fictional

adj

1. Invented, as opposed to real.

   “Romeo and Juliet are fictional characters.”

   “The janitor's account of the crime turned out to be entirely fictional.”

   “Nineteen Eighty-Four was written in 1949. Its nightmarish fictional world is now 37 years in the past, so one might reasonably conclude that Orwell was far too pessimistic, but his great book was less a prediction than a warning, and above all an analysis of the totalitarian mentality.”

2. Containing invented elements.

   “The Simpsons is a fictional television show.”

   “Including both factual and fictional books would have reduced the value of the study; it would have made the content too heterogeneous for the drawing of significant conclusions.”

   “While the jury saw the Sopranos episode in which Adriana was killed for cooperating with the FBI, Mr. Ferro argued to the jury the difference between the fictional TV show from the reality of this trial.”

3. Occurring in fiction.

   “Tunnels often feature in fictional journeys, so I will end with quotations from a fairly recent novel, Howard Spring's "Fame is the Spur", published in 1940, in which there is a journey from Manchester to Bradford via the Calder Valley route: "Ay, we're going through Todmorden. We'll soon be in t' tunnel, and when we get to t' other end we'll be in Yorkshire," and "Ah think this is t' filthiest tunnel in t' world."”