Dear Geist,
Are the words fictional and fictitious interchangeable? If so, why do we need both?
—Cleia, Cyberspace
Dear Cleia,
Both words are adjectives having to do with fiction. Fictional means having the characteristics of fiction: “Harry Potter is a fictional hero.” Fictitious means fictional, but with a negative connotation, suggesting deceit: “The candidate bragged about his fictitious wealth.” And now, allow us to throw a spanner into the works by adding another word: fictive, which refers to the ability to create fiction: “Anna is a writer of great fictive talent.”
Language is alive; words and phrases are always evolving with use. Some go dormant for a while, some rise and fall in a heartbeat, some become interchangeable with other words, some disappear forever. At any moment we could theoretically do without lots of words, but it would be hard to get agreement on it from all English speakers.
—The Editors
