A factoid is a small fact or a snippet of information. The word was coined by Norman Mailer in his 1973 biography of Marilyn Monroe.
Mailer used the term factoid to refer to a wholly spurious "fact" invented to create or prolong public exposure or to manipulate public opinion. Mailer himself described a factoid as "facts which have no existence before appearing in a magazine or newspaper". Mailer created the word by combining the word "fact" and the ending "-oid" to mean "like a fact".
