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sci-fi adj.

of, relating to, or characteristic of science fiction n. 2

See note at sci-fi n.

SF Encyclopedia


SF Criticism

  • [1949 R. A. Heinlein Letter 1 Oct. in R. A. Heinlein & V. Heinlein Grumbles from Grave (1990) 94 Robert A. Heinlein

    I have two short stories that I am very hot to do, one a bobby-sox for Calling All Girls and one a sci-fic [in published text: sci-fi] short which will probably sell to slick and is a sure sale for pulp. ]

  • 1953 J. Zunser New Films in Cue 16 May 15/3 (review)

    This is the kind of fantastic problem scifiads love, and its solution provides a fine scifi-drama, a considerable cut above the usual. I found it an interesting experience in the too rarely developed field of cerebral thrillers.

  • 1954 J. Zunser Donovan’s Brain in Cue 23 Jan. 20/3 (review) page image

    This is a taut little horror film about a surgeon who falls under the malignant influence of a disembodied brain he has extracted from a corpse. Taken in the usual sci-fi spirit, it’s fun—a weird combination of fact, fiction and conviction—well acted by Lew Ayres as the surgeon, Gene Evans, Nancy Davis and Steve Brodie.

  • 1954 Variety 17 Feb. 38

    New Telepix Shows… The commercial possibilities are there as well since ‘Junior Science’, aside from its positive qualities, is a rewarding change of pace from the more thunderous sci-fi and spaceship packages.

  • 1954 F. Ackerman Fantasy Film Flashes in Imagination Dec. 109/1 page image Forrest J. Ackerman

    Target—Earth! will be the screen title of ‘Deadly City’, the sci-fi story authored by Paul W. Fairman under his penname Ivar Jorgenson.

  • 1967 J. Harmon Howling Day in Galaxy Science Fiction June 105/2 page image Jim Harmon bibliography

    You have the makings of a nice little sci-fi pilot here.

  • 1973 Worlds of If Apr. 1 (advt.) page image

    Just about every month, Battle Flag will contain sci-fi articles and even have a futuristic war board game enclosed.

  • 1985 S. Sucharitkul Alien Swordmaster i. ii. 11 S. P. Somtow Somtow Sucharitkul bibliography

    She thought that was…just another sci-fi cliché.

  • 1993 K. S. Robinson Red Mars (1993) 405 Kim Stanley Robinson bibliography

    You and all your friends are trying to live out a fantasy rebellion, some kind of sci-fi 1776, frontiersmen throwing off the yoke of tyranny, but it isn’t like that here!

  • 2023 Analog Science Fiction & Fact July–Aug. 134/2 (biographical note for Jay Werkheister)

    He writes primarily hard science fiction, but isn’t above the occasional time travel or light-hearted sci-fi comedy.

Research requirements

antedating 1953
Earliest cite

Cue
Research History
Forrest J. Ackerman had previously been generally credited with coining the term sci-fi in 1954. The term seems very much like a Varietyism, and Fred Shapiro found an example from Variety in February, 1954, earlier than Ackerman's use.
Jeff Prucher submitted a cite from a 1949 letter printed in Robert Heinlein's "Grumbles from the Grave", a collection of letters, but this was subsequently shown to be an editorial mistranscription; the original is clearly sci-fic (see sci-fic n.).
Fred Galvin submitted a December, 1954 cite from an article by Forrest J. Ackerman in Imagination.
Bee Ostrowsky submitted a January 1954 cite from an online index to Cue magazine, and confirmed this in a hard copy.
Fred Shapiro submitted a cite from an unspecified 1953 issue of Cue; Hugo van Kemenade verified it in the issue of May 16, 1953.

Last modified 2025-01-15 20:19:25
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.