Make Your Point > Archived Issues > FABRICATE

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.

connect this word to others: Today's issue is all about lies, lying, and liars. In Lies: and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, Al Franken wrote about a certain public figure who tends to fabricate information. Why does he do it? For two reasons, Franken said. "One, to polish his own apple. And two, to attack anyone who's critical of him." Harsh words! We come down pretty hard on fabricators and their fabrications, maybe because fabrication is such a bold, straightforward kind of lying. More subtle kinds include ob___cation ("muddying the truth, as if you're making it dark and hard to see") and e___vocation ("speaking in an unclear way, to hide what you really mean"). (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "FABRICATE" Here's one of those basic verbs we all know, one that could be put to good use more often. "Fabric" and "fabricate" trace back to a Latin word meaning "artisan: person who creates things out of materials." To fabricate things literally is to create them out of different parts or pieces. And to fabricate things figuratively is to make them up or invent them, as if you're taking lots of little lies and stitching them together into one big lie. Pronunciation: FAB rick ate Part of speech: Verb, the transitive kind: "they fabricated the documents," "the evidence was entirely fabricated." Other forms: fabricated, fabricating, fabrication(s), fabricator(s) How to use it:  "Fabricate" and "fabricated" are the harsh, serious, grown-up versions of "make up" and "made-up." Talk about people fabricating physical items, usually documents: letters, photographs, passports, driver's licenses, etc. And talk about people fabricating abstract things, like lies, claims, data, stories, excuses, information, explanations, etc. It's worth noting that although people do fabricate things on purpose, we also do this accidentally, due to our many imperfections in perception and memory. It's creepy to think of it, but you may be harboring memories that were, in whole or part, fabricated by your mind. Lastly, although "fabricate" generally carries a harsh, judgmental tone, you might find joy in harmless, even delightful fabrications, like when children fabricate outlandish excuses, or when writers fabricate fantastic universes. examples: "Instead of wholly fabricated stories, influence agents are reframing genuine content and using hyperbolic headlines."    — Claire Wardle, Scientific American, 20 August 2019 "In highly emotional, partisan political contests, voters may 'remember' entirely fabricated news stories."    — Gillian Murphy, news release from Association for Psychological Science, 21 August 2019 has this page helped you understand "fabricate"? Awesome, I'm glad it helped! Thanks for letting me know! If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. study it: Explain the meaning of "fabricate" without saying "concoct" or "falsify." try it out: The author Neil Gaiman said, "We convey truth with stories, which is fundamentally the most gloriously giant contradiction that you can ever imagine." In other words, by fabricating stories, we tell the truth about life. Gaiman adds, "We're using memorable lies. We are taking people who do not exist and things that did not happen to those people in places that aren't, and we are using those things to communicate true things to kids." Think of a favorite story or novel from your childhood, and talk about how the author fabricated a world that seemed real, or fabricated a story that revealed something true: something about life or society. If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.) before you review, play: Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first. Our game this month: Anagrams! Rearrange the letters in the given word to form a word we've studied before. Try to recall its meaning, too.  For example, if I give you DYED, you give me EDDY. If I give you THREAD, you give me DEARTH. And if I give you COTERIES, you give me ESOTERIC. Try this one today: SMIRCH. Give yourself 5 points if you can figure out the word without clues. To reveal the clues, hover over the blue text below. Give yourself 4 points if you figure it out after peeking at the part of speech: Noun. Give yourself 3 points if you figure it out after peeking at the definition: anything that seems holy and soothing in a way that reminds you of sacramental ointment. Give yourself 2 points if you figure it out after peeking at the first letter: C. Give yourself 1 point if you figure it out after peeking at the first two letters: CH. And if you'd like to reveal or review the word, click here. review this word: 1. The opposite of FABRICATED is A. FULL. B. FLIMSY. C. FACTUAL. 2. In a fun twist of irony, the Fabrosaurus--a Jurassic creature named for the geologist who discovered him, Jean Fabre--is now considered _____. A. relatively dainty, about the size of a golden retriever B. dubious, an invention based on a few remains from a different creature C. herbivorous, snacking on plants rather than lying in wait to prey on smaller creatures 1. C 2. B a final word: I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.