Definition of "fictionalize" [fictionalize]

• To treat as or make into fiction: "has fictionalized his people and their town, but we know they are real” ( Harper's). (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The producers understandably air a disclaimer that, despite their research, they were forced to fictionalize part of their movie."
• "That is, I had to fictionalize him a little because I was too small to remember every little detail about him."
• "Bush's press secretaries I understand were not at all involved and had to fictionalize as they went."