- “factitious” comes from the Latin adjective facticius, meaning “made by art”
- “fictitious” comes from the Latin verb fingō, meaning “to deceive”
They are near homonyms. One letter separates them.
Other definitions
- produced artificially rather than by a natural process
- lacking authenticity or genuineness; sham
Modern usage
- “Outside the spaceship, a factitious robot gave instructions to those about to enter.”
I had a brief conversation with a sales clerk at Home Depot. Her husband is an artist. She is quite concerned about AI undermining the art world by its ability to create art using thousands of images of real art and creating sham art.