How to Use true-life in a Sentence

true-life

adjective
  • The result is a true-life tale of fame and friendship stranger (and funnier) than fiction.
    — Mia Galuppo, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Jan. 2024
  • Sometimes users share fan fiction inspired by true-life shootings.
    — Odette Yousef, NPR, 8 Mar. 2025
  • One of the world’s great true-life train heist stories is set to return to the big screen in China.
    — Patrick Brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Mar. 2024
  • What attracts you to telling these sensational true-life stories?
    — Nigel Smith, Peoplemag, 15 Sep. 2023
  • Antle’s sentence is the final true-life chapter of the Tiger King saga.
    — Sydney Lake, Fortune, 8 July 2025
  • This true-life tale about perseverance, compassion and second chances cuts right to the quick.
    — Courtney Howard, Variety, 13 Mar. 2024
  • Books by doctor-writers carry a special charge because of the true-life nature of the drama.
    — Danielle Ofri, New Yorker, 7 June 2025
  • Andrew Lazar, who last worked on true-life swimming drama Nyad, is producing.
    — Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 July 2024
  • Both Noah and Rebecca are dealing with real problems, true-life stuff, the kind of things coming at all of us.
    — Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 22 Jan. 2026
  • The kind of unflashy, true-life stuff network TV did well for so many decades, and then indie film did even better for so many more decades.
    — Steven Zeitchik, HollywoodReporter, 16 June 2026
  • The film follows the true-life story of WWE performer Paige, played by Pugh.
    — Zac Ntim, Deadline, 21 Apr. 2026
  • From haunted houses and possessed dolls to true-life exorcisms, check out these 10 horror movies based on real-life events.
    — Stephanie Sengwe, Peoplemag, 30 Oct. 2023
  • But its true-life story and wider streaming release are a reminder of the social history of the TV movie.
    — Matt Brennan, Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec. 2024
  • Like Cooper, Malek was a cisgender straight man playing a true-life bisexual.
    — Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2023
  • Zachary Levi has traded in his superhero suit for a true-life story steeped in faith and American history.
    — Stephanie Giang-Paunon, FOXNews.com, 29 Nov. 2025
  • That’s a shame, because both Dunst and Tatum do career-best work in this low-key, true-life tale, which was totally blanked at the Globes.
    — Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 8 Dec. 2025
  • But after a promising showing at last November’s Gotham Awards, the true-life prison drama struggled to gain traction.
    — Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 23 Jan. 2025
  • Here, Pohlad has found another true-life music-industry story about family and the slippery nature of success.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 4 Aug. 2023
  • Andre Holland and Wendell Pierce are stepping into the ring for the true-life boxing movie They Fight.
    — Aaron Couch, HollywoodReporter, 25 Nov. 2025
  • The harrowing true-life tale follows Glass on a perilous fur-trading expedition in the 1820s.
    — Lauren Sanchez, Vogue, 19 Dec. 2024
  • Voicemails for Isabelle writer-director Leah McKendrick says the film was inspired by several true-life events.
    — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 22 June 2026
  • Released on Christmas Day, the true-life sports drama earned an A Cinemascore and is building word of mouth at the holiday box office.
    — Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 31 Dec. 2024
  • The fanfare is somewhat prophetic as Gadd’s character, Donny, based on his true-life experiences, spends the greater part of the show chasing fame as a writer and comedian.
    — Brande Victorian, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Aug. 2024
  • The film’s story is loosely based on the true-life reunion of Song, her American husband and her Korean school pal, which took place when the director was 29.
    — Robert Ito, New York Times, 31 May 2023
  • Rose is such a project, a historical drama that plays out like a folk tale, an aggregate of many similar true-life stories — some detected, others not — lightly fictionalized and thoughtfully distilled into one.
    — Damon Wise, Deadline, 16 Feb. 2026
  • There was always going to be a comedown after the true-life emotionality that powered Furious 7 — and Fate was mostly seed-planting toward the ninth and 10th films.
    — Derek Lawrence, EW.com, 6 Sep. 2024
  • Beloved actor Bill Paxton, directing his second and final feature film, pivoted from the harrowing horror of Frailty to make this Disney true-life sports drama.
    — Jesse Hassenger, Entertainment Weekly, 18 June 2026
  • Based on a tragic true-life incident, director Joe Carnahan's survival thriller stars Zachary Levi as one of four friends who head out on a fishing expedition and their boat capsizes in a nasty storm.
    — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 20 Mar. 2026
  • Levinson animates many of Costello’s monologues about his life and work with a blend of archival and faux-archival photographs and footage, creating and then animating snapshots of history as a nod to the authenticity of this true-life tale.
    — Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 21 Mar. 2025
  • Purchase on Prime Video or Apple TV Cabrini is based on the true-life story of Italian immigrant Francesca Cabrini.
    — Lynnette Nicholas, Parents, 9 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'true-life.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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