Fiction or nonfiction?
fiction is a noun meaning “Literary type using invented or imaginative writing, instead of real facts…”; nonfiction is a noun meaning “Written works intended to give facts, or true accounts of real things and…”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) fiction is about 15 times as common as nonfiction.
What is the difference between fiction and nonfiction?
| fiction | nonfiction | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun |
| Meaning | Literary type using invented or imaginative writing, instead of real facts, usually written as prose A verbal or written account that is not based on actual events (often intended to mislead); an untrue belief | Written works intended to give facts, or true accounts of real things and events. Often used attributively |
| Example | I am a great reader of fiction | Encyclopedias, how-to manuals and biographies are all considered nonfiction and so are kept in the nonfiction section |
| Forms | fictions | nonfictions |
| Pronunciation | /ˈfɪkʃən/ [ˈfɪkʃən] ~ [ˈfɪkʃn̩] | not recorded |
| In writing | 28 times per million words | 1.8 times per million words |
Sources: fiction and nonfiction in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of fiction and nonfiction
fiction
- 1
Literary type using invented or imaginative writing, instead of real facts, usually written as prose
I am a great reader of fiction
- 2
A verbal or written account that is not based on actual events (often intended to mislead); an untrue belief
The company’s accounts contained a number of blatant fictions
- 3
A legal fiction
nonfiction
- 1
Written works intended to give facts, or true accounts of real things and events. Often used attributively
Encyclopedias, how-to manuals and biographies are all considered nonfiction and so are kept in the nonfiction section
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, fiction or nonfiction?
fiction appears 28 times per million words; nonfiction 1.8 times per million words.
fiction 28 times per million wordsnonfiction 1.8 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).