fictive

Definitions

fict (from fingere/fictum, a relative of the make-family meaning 'to fashion, form, shape') + -ive: pertaining to what is fashioned by the mind rather than found in reality — invented, made-up.

Example Sentences

• 1.

  The memoir blends real events with fictive episodes.

• 2.

  Anthropologists study fictive kinship — bonds treated as family ties.

Easily Confused

fictive vs fictional: fictional simply means 'belonging to a work of fiction' (a fictional character). fictive is more technical/literary, stressing the act of inventing or feigning, and appears in fixed terms like 'fictive kinship.' Use fictional in everyday talk; fictive in scholarly writing.