true story
Not made up
A true story is an account of events that actually happened, as opposed to fiction.
The phrase often appears in marketing for films and books: based on a true story.
Ironically, true story also serves as casual emphasis for claims that sound exaggerated or unlikely: I saw him eat the whole thing—true story.
- nonfictionLiterature about real events
- memoirWritten personal recollection
- documentaryFactual film about reality
- based onHaving as source
- real lifeExistence beyond imagination
based · real · authentic · actual · factual · account · eyewitness account · biography · journalism · testimony · sworn testimony · witness · events · happened · inspired · stranger than fiction · adaptation · chronicle
- nonfictionbiography, autobiography, biographies, history, memoir
- biopic termsdramatization, adaptation, portrayal, transformation, biographer
- realistic genresdocumentary, biopic, drama, docudrama, realism
- truthveracity, verity, factuality, actuality, reality
- storiestale, tales, myth, legend, fable
- biographiesbiography, biographies, autobiography, autobiographies, memoir
true storyfiction
Imagined narrative work
fabrication · work of fiction · fairy tale · tall tale · fantasy
true storyhoax
Deliberate deception for effect
fraud · fake · cock-and-bull story · pack of lies · deception
true, story, truly, truth, truthful, truthfully, truthfulness, untrue, untruth