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Glite Dictionary
fictitious name

fictitious name

1 7.8
A name a business uses that is not its legal registered name
  • noun
  • /fɪkˈtɪʃəs neɪm/
  • Formal
translation icon : nombre ficticio
  • It's a fictitious name.
  • using a fictitious name

Examples

  • If you were going to be a conduit for letters addressed to certain destinations that risked being intercepted by agents at the post office, you hired a mailbox under a fictitious name in a suburb far from where you lived.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Participants were given fictitious names to protect their anonymity.

    Academic text (2006)

  • So if that means opening up fraudulent accounts, applying for credit cards under fictitious names, do whatever you need to do.

  • Bears a fictitious name or other false information.

    Blog text (31)

  • And since he'd been doing all this under the table, he put all the shares in this account, in this trust account, under a fictitious name.

    Criminal Activities (2015)

  • Chandra Baker (fictitious name), an African American sixth grader, attends Gwynn Oak Middle School, a large urban school in the southern part of the United States.

    Academic text (2008)

  • The apartments were rented under a fictitious name to avoid revealing the tenants' true identities.

  • He has several profiles on social media, all created with fictitious names to maintain his privacy.

  • Many businesses operate using a fictitious name that differs from their registered legal name for branding purposes.

Synonyms

false name
vsfictitious name
9 3.9

A made-up name someone uses to hide who they are

is a lawful business operating name not meant to conceal identity
DBA
vsfictitious name
  • Jargon
3 8.3

A name a company uses to do business that is different from its legal name

is the broader legal concept behind that short label
assumed name
vsfictitious name
  • Formal
1 6.9

A name a business uses that is different from its legal name

is the same legal concept for business names not a personal false identity
doing business as
vsfictitious name
  • Formal
1 5.6

A name a business uses that is not its legal name

is the general legal term for an operating name used by a business

Surface Forms

fictitious name singular
fictitious names plural

Morphology

fictitious + name

The meaning is directly compositional: 'fictitious' = not real and 'name' = word(s) identifying something, so a B1 learner who knows both words will infer it means a made-up or non‑real name. Although the phrase has a particular legal use (a trade name/DBA), the core sense is transparent and predictable from the constituents.

Etymology

The noun fictitious name comes from the idea of a business using a fictitious ('made-up') name to show customers instead of its real company name. So, it means the name a company uses in public that is not its 'legal' name.