factitious

adjective fac·ti·tious \ fak-ˈti-shəs \

Definition of factitious

1 : produced by humans rather than by natural forces

It seems probable that several of the mounds are factitious.

2 a : formed by or adapted to an artificial or conventional standard

factitious tastes and values

b : produced by special effort : sham

created a factitious demand by spreading rumors of shortage

—

factitiously

adverb

—

factitiousness

noun

See factitious defined for kids

factitious was our Word of the Day on 01/06/2017. Hear the podcast!

Examples of factitious in a Sentence

presumably the statue is of factitious marble, because for that price you're not going to get the real stuff
the factitious friendliness shown by the beauty-pageant contestants to one another

Recent Examples of factitious from the Web

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, "Ornette Coleman’s Inspired Soundtrack for “Who’s Crazy?”," 13 Mar. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'factitious.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Like the common words "fact" and "factual," "factitious" ultimately comes from the Latin verb facere, meaning "to do" or "to make." But in current use, "factitious" has little to do with things factual and true - in fact, "factitious" often implies the opposite. The most immediate ancestor of "factitious" is the Latin adjective facticius, meaning "made by art" or "artificial." When English speakers first adopted the word as "factitious" in the 17th century, it meant "produced by human effort or skill" (rather than arising from nature). This meaning gave rise to such meanings as "artificial" and "false" or "feigned."