falsify
Americanverb (used with object)
-
falsifies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
falsified,
past participle, past
-
falsifying
present participle
-
to make false or incorrect, especially so as to deceive.
to falsify income-tax reports.
-
to alter fraudulently.
-
to represent falsely.
He falsified the history of his family to conceal his humble origins.
-
to show or prove to be false; disprove.
to falsify a theory.
- Synonyms:
- controvert, confute, refute, discredit, rebut
verb (used without object)
-
falsifies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
falsified,
past participle, past
-
falsifying
present participle
verb
-
to make (a report, evidence, accounts, etc) false or inaccurate by alteration, esp in order to deceive
-
to prove false; disprove
Synonym Usage
See misrepresent.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
falsifysimple
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falsifiessimple
-
have falsifiedperfect
-
has falsifiedperfect
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am falsifyingprogressive
-
are falsifyingprogressive
-
is falsifyingprogressive
-
have been falsifyingperfect progressive
-
has been falsifyingperfect progressive
Past
-
falsifiedsimple
-
had falsifiedperfect
-
was falsifyingprogressive
-
were falsifyingprogressive
-
had been falsifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of falsify
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English falsifien, from Middle French falsifier, from Late Latin falsificāre; see origin at false, -ify
Explanation
To falsify is to alter or mangle something, like a message or document, in a way that distorts the meaning. Since false things aren't true, to falsify something is to dishonestly change its meaning. If a friend tells you a story, and then you retell the story but change important facts, you falsified the story. If you lie in court — commit perjury — you're falsifying the facts. Faking someone else's signature is another type of falsifying, as is lying on your resume. Anytime you misrepresent the truth, you're falsifying.
Vocabulary lists containing falsify
A Long Way from Chicago
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Salt to the Sea
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Unit 2: Vocabulary from Readings 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
While most applications are truthful, admissions officers nationwide say technology like AI has made it easier to falsify submissions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
“Why would that be the case that someone who got a gift card is more likely to falsify than someone who thinks I’m going to get $6,000 at the end of this?” she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday said that it was "intolerable" that the revision books for the French school leavers' exam, the baccalaureat, "falsify the facts" about the "terrorist and antisemitic attacks by Hamas".
From Barron's ● Jan. 16, 2026
Maisa Rojas, Chile's environment minister, told the BBC: "The science is very clear. It is very important not to falsify the truth."
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2025
I know that Walter is the man who oversees the theater, who helps falsify papers for the children in the crèche.
From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse
It falsifies not just Black history but American history.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 2, 2023
Treasury has said that anyone who falsifies documentation or otherwise hides the true origin or price of Russian oil would face consequences under the domestic law of jurisdictions implementing the price cap.
From Reuters ● Sep. 20, 2022
“If a federal law enforcement officer lies, manipulates witnesses, and falsifies evidence, should the officer be liable for damages?” the U.S.
From New York Times ● Sep. 12, 2021
Veteran rancher John Landsburg faces federal bureaucracy when his old enemy, Tap Peterson, falsifies documents and alleges that Landsburg doesn’t own his family ranch.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2020
It will be found that when our memory falsifies the date of an event, the error arises much in the same way as a visual miscalculation of distance.
From Illusions A Psychological Study by Sully, James
The woman alleged that the deputy falsified a break-in report just to visit her home, and he later pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges, according to a civil lawsuit and court records.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Prosecutors also allege the company falsified safety records.
From BBC ● May 12, 2026
And it upheld the lower court's conclusion that Yoon had prepared falsified documents, but had not actually used them.
From Barron's ● Apr. 29, 2026
When the public hears about scientific fraud, the focus often falls on isolated cases involving falsified data, plagiarism or retracted studies.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 7, 2026
As philosopher of science Karl Popper has emphasized, a good theory is characterized by the fact that it makes a number of predictions that could in principle be disproved or falsified by observation.
From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking
So far, the head of the institute has said the only reasons to strip fellows of their titles is if they’ve conducted scientific misconduct, things like falsifying data, Twelvetrees said.
From Salon ● Feb. 24, 2026
But according to the indictment, he paid himself above-market rate to “rent” properties he already owned, falsifying records to show he’d paid market rate to made-up landlords in order to house his clients.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2026
Analysts at the firm said the ship had previously loaded crude oil from Venezuela and Iran, while falsifying its position via its onboard tracker, a process known as spoofing.
From BBC ● Dec. 11, 2025
The defendants engaged in a "deliberate and deceptive effort to transship controlled Nvidia GPUs to China by falsifying paperwork, creating fake contracts, and misleading US authorities," Assistant Attorney General John Eisenberg said in a statement.
From Barron's ● Nov. 20, 2025
The immediate advantages of falsifying the past were obvious, but the ultimate motive was mysterious.
From "1984" by George Orwell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
