Word.ws English Dictionary

literary fiction

UK/ˈlɪt(ə)ɹəɹi ˌfɪk(t)ʃən/US/ˈlɪt(ə)ɹɛɹi ˌfɪk(t)ʃən/

literary fiction noun: any work of fiction regarded as having literary merit.

Noun

literary fiction (uncountable)

  1. Any work of fiction regarded as having literary merit.
    • I don't think "A is for Apple" qualifies as literary fiction.
    • The present book is mainly about literary fiction, because this is where the confusion is most profound, but in some contexts it may be useful or interesting to include non-fiction.2014 January 30, Geir Farner, Literary Fiction: The Ways We Read Narrative Literature, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 29
    Antonyms:
    popular fiction
  2. Fiction lacking speculative elements and centred on character and theme.
    • While she usually reads science fiction, she also enjoys literary fiction.
    • We represent works in a wide range of categories, with an emphasis on literary fiction, outstanding thriller and crime fiction, and serious narrative nonfiction.2018 September 14, Robert Lee Brewer, editor, Guide to Literary Agents 2019: The Most Trusted Guide to Getting Published, F+W Media, →ISBN, page 355

Antonyms of literary fiction

Words formed from literary fiction

Questions about literary fiction

What does literary fiction mean?
Literary fiction means any work of fiction regarded as having literary merit.
What part of speech is literary fiction?
Literary fiction is a noun.
How do you pronounce literary fiction?
Literary fiction is pronounced /ˈlɪt(ə)ɹəɹi ˌfɪk(t)ʃən/ (UK).

Words near literary fiction in the dictionary

  1. literary criticism
  2. literary device
  3. literary devices
  4. literary executor
  5. literary executors
  6. literary fiction
  7. literary inquisition
  8. literary inquisitions
  9. literary journalism
  10. literary language
  11. literary present

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: literary fiction (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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