虚実(きょじつ)

きょじつ
noun
truth and falsehood; fact and fiction
formalabstract
1. truth and falsehood; fact and fiction; reality and pretense
The combination or interplay of what is true and what is false. Often used to describe situations where it is difficult to distinguish truth from lies, or where reality and fiction are deliberately blurred.
虚実(きょじつ)入(い)り混(ま)じった話(はなし)だ。
It's a story where truth and fiction are mixed together.
彼(かれ)の証言(しょうげん)は虚実(きょじつ)が分(わ)かりにくい。
It's hard to tell what's true and what's false in his testimony.
インターネット上(じょう)の情報(じょうほう)は虚実(きょじつ)が入(い)り混(ま)じっているので、注意(ちゅうい)が必要(ひつよう)だ。
Information on the internet mixes truth with falsehood, so caution is needed.

Composed of 虚(きょ) (empty, false) + 実(じつ) (real, true). Describes the intermingling of truth and falsehood, often with the implication that they are difficult to separate.

Common collocations

Cultural note

The phrase 虚実(きょじつ)皮膜(ひまく)の間(あいだ) (literally 'the membrane between fiction and reality') is attributed to the Edo-period playwright 近松(ちかまつ)門左衛門(もんざえもん) and is a foundational concept in Japanese aesthetics of drama and narrative.

Similar words

  • 真偽(しんぎ): truth or falsehood — focuses on determining whether something is true or false; more binary
  • 虚構(きょこう): fiction, fabrication — refers to something entirely made up, not a mixture of truth and lies

Related Words

Compare: 真偽(しんぎ) (truth or falsehood)
Compare: 虚構(きょこう) (fiction, fabrication)
general
Added 2026.4.2 23:11 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:02
21500/21510_kyojitsu