noun · neutral

documentary

UK/ˌdɒkjʊˈmentəri/US/ˌdɑːkjəˈmentəri/doc·u·MEN·ta·ry

Band 5-6speakingtask2

A film or television program that gives facts and information about real events or people.

Examples

I watched a documentary about climate change last night.

The BBC produces many high-quality nature documentaries.

For my essay I used several documentaries as sources.

Band 8 sentence

I prefer watching documentaries because they explain complex issues clearly without oversimplifying.

Collocations

  • watch a documentary
  • nature documentary
  • feature-length documentary

Word family

documentary noundocument noun/verbdocumented adjective

Common mistakes

I need a document about marine life.I need a documentary about marine life.

I watched a movie about whales.I watched a documentary about whales.

Say it for a higher band

5movie6film7+documentary

Synonyms

film

Easily confused

film

That film was a dramatic retelling, not a documentary.

Related words

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In Free time & Hobbies

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