DOCUMENTARY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does documentary mean? 

• DOCUMENTARY (noun)
  The noun DOCUMENTARY has 1 sense:

1. a film or TV program presenting the facts about a person or event

  Familiarity information: DOCUMENTARY used as a noun is very rare.

• DOCUMENTARY (adjective)
  The adjective DOCUMENTARY has 2 senses:

1. relating to or consisting of or derived from documents

2. (of film, television, radio, or photography) depicting a real-life event using images or interviews with people involved in the event

  Familiarity information: DOCUMENTARY used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DOCUMENTARY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A film or TV program presenting the facts about a person or event

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

docudrama; documentary; documentary film; infotainment

Hypernyms ("documentary" is a kind of...):

film; flick; motion-picture show; motion picture; movie; moving-picture show; moving picture; pic; picture; picture show (a form of entertainment that enacts a story by sound and a sequence of images giving the illusion of continuous movement)

Derivation:

document (record in detail)

documentary ((of film, television, radio, or photography) depicting a real-life event using images or interviews with people involved in the event)

• DOCUMENTARY (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Relating to or consisting of or derived from documents

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

documental; documentary

Pertainym:

document (writing that provides information (especially information of an official nature))

Derivation:

document (anything serving as a representation of a person's thinking by means of symbolic marks)

document (writing that provides information (especially information of an official nature))

document ((computer science) a computer file that contains text (and possibly formatting instructions) using seven-bit ASCII characters)

document (a written account of ownership or obligation)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(of film, television, radio, or photography) depicting a real-life event using images or interviews with people involved in the event

Similar:

existent; real (being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verified existence; not illusory)

Derivation:

documentary (a film or TV program presenting the facts about a person or event)

 Context examples 

If you are a documentary filmmaker, you might start by doing research and mapping out the frames and scenes you will need to shoot.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The documentary claims expert analysis confirmed these streaks likely signify a large fire in a fuel store.

(UK documentary claims fire weakened RMS Titanic, Wikinews)

Merlin Burrows, which calls itself a land and sea search company specializing in finding forgotten or hidden things, is poised to release a documentary about what it says may finally be proof that Atlantis was real.

(Researchers Claim to Have Found Mythical City of Atlantis in Spain, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Alternatively, you may be working on a documentary movie or editing a high-profile novel that will soon be on the market.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

A documentary broadcast on Sunday on the UK's Channel 4 claims the RMS Titanic was weakened by a three-week fire before its infamous 1912 sinking.

(UK documentary claims fire weakened RMS Titanic, Wikinews)