fictitious

Fictitious is an adjective used to describe something that is not real and is created or invented for a specific purpose. It is commonly applied to characters, events, data, or names that do not correspond to actual persons or occurrences. In storytelling, fictitious details help construct narratives without asserting factual accuracy. In legal and commercial contexts, the term appears in phrases such as fictitious name or fictitious business name, designating an alias under which a person or company operates rather than its official registered name. In ordinary language, a claim described as fictitious signals that it should not be treated as a verified fact, though intent can vary.

Etymology: from Latin fictus, the past participle of fingere, meaning to feign, shape, or imagine. The adjective entered English in the early modern period with a sense linked to pretence.

Distinctions: fictional refers to content produced through imagination, such as novels and films, whereas fictitious broadens to non-reality used for placeholders, aliases, or examples. The term is distinct from synonyms like fake or sham, which carry stronger implications of deception or fraud, and from fabricated when intent to deceive is involved.

Related terms include fictitious name, fictitious data, feigned, and sham.