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 definition: not spontaneous or natural; artificial; contrived. See examples of factitious used in a sentence.

Feb 11, 2026 · Factitious disorder, previously called Munchausen syndrome, is a serious mental health condition in which people deceive others by pretending to be sick. They do this by faking symptoms, …

A factitious disorder is a mental disorder in which a person, without a malingering motive, acts as if they have an illness by deliberately producing, feigning, or exaggerating symptoms, purely to attain (for …

Malingering and factitious disorders, where the symptoms are produced or feigned intentionally, are excluded.

Factitious, pronounced "fac-TISH-us," means "fake," like a factitious compliment you give the person who cooked you an awful meal — you don't mean it, but you say it anyway, just to be nice.

factitious in American English (fækˈtɪʃəs ) adjective Origin: L facticius < pp. of facere, do 1 not natural, genuine, or spontaneous; forced or artificial