Writing Tip 41: “Fictional” vs. “Fictitious”
If a pathological liar tells stories, are they fictional or fictitious? If those stories are then published, does the word choice need to change?
Here’s a subtle one for you. Both “fictional” and “fictitious” share a common root, but there is a difference in their definitions. Fiction, of course, is imaginary or fabricated, but something is described as “fictional” when it relates to a work of art, such as a book, a film, or a painting. When something is fabricated in real life (a la “Liar, Liar, pants on fire”), it is considered “fictitious.”
My question here concerns Pinocchio’s nose. Is the nose fictional, but it grows when he tells something fictitious? Linguistic mysteries of the universe, my friends.More