ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Documentary

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /ˌdɒk.jʊˈmɛn.tɹi/ · Part of speech adjective

Quick meaning: Documentary is an adjective meaning Of, related to, or based on documents.

Meaning

Of, related to, or based on documents.

More Meanings

  1. Which serves to document (record or illustrate) a subject.
  2. (of a film, book, etc) Presented objectively without the insertion of fictional matter.
  3. (uncountable) Such works collectively, as a genre.
  4. A film, TV program, publication etc. which presents a social, political, scientific or historical subject in a factual or informative manner.

Example Sentences

a documentary film
Fifteen documentaries are in sharp-elbowed competition to be among the five Oscar nominees.
Such sequences draw attention to the affective appeals that environmental documentary typically makes, precisely by absenting those appeals.
Just as there is a tradition of history painting, so there is one of history photographs — which of course are not documentary. They're posed as the world was supposed to be.

Word Forms

Synonyms for documentary

Depending on context, synonyms include documentative, documentational, infotainment, documental, docudrama.

Antonyms for documentary

Common opposites include fiction.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include docudrama, infotainment, documental, written, writing, archival.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.