1
as in synthetic
being such in appearance only and made with or manufactured from usually cheaper materials
presumably the statue is of factitious marble, because for that price you're not going to get the real stuff
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in unnatural
lacking in natural or spontaneous quality
the factitious friendliness shown by the beauty-pageant contestants to one another
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Recent Examples of factitious
With this announcement, factitious (in my opinion) concerns about Amazon being behind in GenAI will be reduced big time.
—
Sandy Carter, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2024
This is a useful inquiry, because we in the modern world are inundated by manipulated or factitious statistics, fabricated by marketers and politicians, promoted on social media and swallowed whole by news organizations.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 14 Dec. 2023
Some patients, for a variety of reasons — such as faking illness, for example — will surreptitiously administer insulin to themselves to trigger episodes similar to what Tegan was experiencing (a condition known as factitious hypoglycemia).
—Douglas G. Adler, Discover Magazine, 14 May 2020
Their connection to these was as factitious as their previous link to toothpaste.
—David Mamet, National Review, 31 Mar. 2022
Marc Feldman, the American psychiatrist who popularized the term Munchausen by internet, has noticed that most of the cases of factitious disorder that come to his attention involve women.
—Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2021
Amidst this sad and factitious disorder what became clear was that political agendas were once again trumping facts.
—Amir Husain, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2021
Life here feels familiar—perversely, almost easy, if admittedly factitious.
—Sylvia Poggioli, The New York Review of Books, 29 Mar. 2020
That’s because, for the most part, music is used in movies as sonic wallpaper, covering silences and images with an indifferent and casually factitious unity.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2017
Sandy Carter, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2024
This is a useful inquiry, because we in the modern world are inundated by manipulated or factitious statistics, fabricated by marketers and politicians, promoted on social media and swallowed whole by news organizations.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 14 Dec. 2023
Some patients, for a variety of reasons — such as faking illness, for example — will surreptitiously administer insulin to themselves to trigger episodes similar to what Tegan was experiencing (a condition known as factitious hypoglycemia).
—Douglas G. Adler, Discover Magazine, 14 May 2020
Their connection to these was as factitious as their previous link to toothpaste.
—David Mamet, National Review, 31 Mar. 2022
Marc Feldman, the American psychiatrist who popularized the term Munchausen by internet, has noticed that most of the cases of factitious disorder that come to his attention involve women.
—Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2021
Amidst this sad and factitious disorder what became clear was that political agendas were once again trumping facts.
—Amir Husain, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2021
Life here feels familiar—perversely, almost easy, if admittedly factitious.
—Sylvia Poggioli, The New York Review of Books, 29 Mar. 2020
That’s because, for the most part, music is used in movies as sonic wallpaper, covering silences and images with an indifferent and casually factitious unity.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for factitious
Adjective
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The products allegedly use synthetic ingredients such as parabens and sulfates.—
Dan Perry,
Newsweek,
1 Mar. 2025
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The sculpted bamboo details are actually rust-resistant aluminum, while the tabletop, seats, and seatbacks are upholstered in a synthetic, rattan-like weave that’s more durable than natural caning.—
Miles Walls,
Better Homes & Gardens,
1 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Advanced algorithms and neural networks can analyze pixel artifacts, unnatural movements and other subtle audio-visual data inconsistencies to detect deepfakes accurately.—
Dan Yerushalmi,
Forbes,
18 Feb. 2025
-
That comes from Reid, according to Kelce, and it’s led an almost unnatural level of calm across the team.—
Kyle Feldscher,
CNN,
8 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Sabrina After Dark, the faux series Sabrina Carpenter built into her live show on the Short n’ Sweet tour, has been renewed for another season.—
Larisha Paul,
Rolling Stone,
27 Feb. 2025
-
That his faux prayer hardly even touched on the show’s nominees didn’t prevent it whatsoever from killing.—
Hershal Pandya,
Vulture,
27 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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To illustrate, in the United Kingdom vaccinations took a considerable dip in the early 2000s after Wakefield’ false claims of a link between the MMR shot and autism were posted in the media.—
Joshua P. Cohen,
Forbes,
8 Mar. 2025
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In those documents, West discussed not only how to conduct experiments to implant false memories, instill specific mental disorders, and induce trance states, but also how to hide them.—
Randall Colburn,
EW.com,
8 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
The space station’s microbiome represents an artificial extreme.—
Lauren Leffer,
Popular Science,
27 Feb. 2025
-
But stuck in the middle tier are 150 countries that must endure artificial limits on computing supply chains that are kept at least a generation behind US technology accessible by the top tier.—
Ashley Belanger,
Ars Technica,
27 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
The Athletic's college football reporters conducted a mock draft, which had the Titans taking Miami quarterback Cam Ward.—
Nate Rau,
Axios,
26 Feb. 2025
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There already have been a deluge of mock drafts and prospect rankings.—
Jim Reineking,
USA TODAY,
25 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
The reports that have gone viral on social media are fake news.—
Natasha Dye,
People.com,
28 Feb. 2025
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Call scams have been making headlines recently, fueled by the rise in AI threats and urgent but fake banking and technical support calls that push users to install software or transfer money.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes,
28 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
For years, Knight has hinted at Snoop’s alleged jealousy of Tupac, believing that the East Coast-West Coast rivalry and personal tensions led to strained relationships within their inner circle.—
Preezy Brown,
VIBE.com,
25 Feb. 2025
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State of play: DeSantis and Trump have long had a strained relationship.—
Ivana Saric,
Axios,
24 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Factitious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/factitious. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.
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