speculative fiction

speculative fiction (countable and uncountable, plural speculative fictions)

1. (uncountable) A class of fiction involving fantastic, supernatural or futuristic elements, including fantasy, horror, and science fiction, dealing with worlds, themes, and characters not part of everyday life. [from 20th c.]
   • 1947, Robert A. Heinlein, On the Writing of Speculative Fiction:

     There are at least two principal ways to write speculative fiction—write about people, or write about gadgets.

   • 1987, Angela Carter, “Bruce Chatwin: The Songlines”, in Shaking a Leg, Vintage, published 2013, page 588:

     And the speculation shows signs of turning into very sophisticated science fiction – science fiction in the purest sense; speculative fiction about science.

   • 2021 November 16, Omar El Akkad, “Neal Stephenson’s Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     Stephenson is one of speculative fiction’s most meticulous architects, and here he’s got sheets and sheets of blueprint.

2. (countable) A particular work belonging to this class.

• Sometimes seen as being more literary or serious than terms such as science fiction or fantasy.

• See Thesaurus:speculative fiction