half-truth
Americannoun
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a statement that is only partly true, especially one intended to deceive, evade blame, or the like.
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a statement that fails to divulge the whole truth.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of half-truth
First recorded in 1650–60
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.
“Before he took the time to gather the facts, he painted a negative half-truth about our son and the unfolding case,” she said.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 22, 2023
Just a day after the intelligence officer’s report, the Army offered a clarifying half-truth: It identified the object as a crashed weather balloon.
From Slate • Jun. 29, 2021
Toobin says that this half-truth and falsehood, respectively, were a rhetorical success because “simplicity rarely loses to complexity in battles in the public square.”
From New York Times • Aug. 5, 2020
Not for him the mealy-mouthed half-truth, the small evasion.
From Salon • Apr. 24, 2020
That wasn’t so much a lie as a half-truth.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
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.
