true
Americanadjective
-
being in accordance with the actual state or conditions; conforming to reality or fact; not false.
a true story.
-
real; genuine; authentic.
true gold; true feelings.
-
sincere; not deceitful.
a true interest in someone's welfare.
- Synonyms:
- honest
-
firm in allegiance; loyal; faithful; steadfast.
a true friend.
- Synonyms:
- steady, constant, staunch, trustworthy
-
being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of something.
the true meaning of his statement.
-
conforming to or consistent with a standard, pattern, or the like.
a true copy.
-
exact; precise; accurate; correct.
a true balance.
- Synonyms:
- faithful
-
of the right kind; such as it should be; proper.
to arrange things in their true order.
-
properly so called; rightly answering to a description.
true statesmanship.
-
legitimate or rightful.
the true heir.
-
reliable, unfailing, or sure.
a true sign.
-
exactly or accurately shaped, formed, fitted, or placed, as a surface, instrument, or part of a mechanism.
-
honest; honorable; upright.
-
Biology. conforming to the type, norm, or standard of structure of a particular group; typical.
The lion is a true cat.
-
Animal Husbandry. purebred.
-
Navigation. (of a bearing, course, etc.) determined in relation to true north.
-
Archaic. truthful.
noun
-
exact or accurate formation, position, or adjustment.
to be out of true.
-
the true, something that is true; truth.
adverb
-
in a true manner; truly; truthfully.
-
exactly or accurately.
-
in conformity with the ancestral type.
to breed true.
verb (used with object)
-
trues,
present (3rd person singular)
-
trued,
past participle, past
-
trueing,
present participle
-
truing
present participle
-
to make true; shape, adjust, place, etc., exactly or accurately.
to true the wheels of a bicycle after striking a pothole.
-
(especially in carpentry) to make even, symmetrical, level, etc. (often followed byup ).
to true up the sides of a door.
idioms
adjective
-
not false, fictional, or illusory; factual or factually accurate; conforming with reality
-
(prenominal) being of real or natural origin; genuine; not synthetic
true leather
-
-
unswervingly faithful and loyal to friends, a cause, etc
a true follower
-
( as collective noun ; preceded by the )
the loyal and the true
-
-
faithful to a particular concept of truth, esp of religious truth
a true believer
-
conforming to a required standard, law, or pattern
a true aim
a true fit
-
exactly in tune
a true note
-
(of a compass bearing) according to the earth's geographical rather than magnetic poles
true north
-
biology conforming to the typical structure of a designated type
sphagnum moss is a true moss, Spanish moss is not
-
physics not apparent or relative; taking into account all complicating factors Compare apparent
the true expansion of a liquid takes into account the expansion of the container
-
informal unbelievable; remarkable
she's got so much money it's not true
-
exactly comparable with reality
noun
adverb
-
truthfully; rightly
-
precisely or unswervingly
he shot true
-
biology without variation from the ancestral type
to breed true
verb
Synonym Usage
See real 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
truesimple
-
truessimple
-
have truedperfect
-
has truedperfect
-
am trueingprogressive
-
am truingprogressive
-
are trueingprogressive
-
are truingprogressive
-
is trueingprogressive
-
is truingprogressive
-
have been trueingperfect progressive
-
have been truingperfect progressive
-
has been trueingperfect progressive
-
has been truingperfect progressive
Past
-
truedsimple
-
had truedperfect
-
was trueingprogressive
-
was truingprogressive
-
were trueingprogressive
-
were truingprogressive
-
had been trueingperfect progressive
-
had been truingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of true
before 900; Middle English trewe (adj. and adv.), Old English trēowe (adj.) loyal, trusty, honest ( trow, truce ); akin to Dutch trouw, German treu, Old Norse tryggr, Gothic triggws
Explanation
Things that are true are accurate, honest, and correct. There are many specific meanings, but when something is true, you can believe it. This word has many meanings, but they're all pretty much the opposite of false. True statements can be proven or verified — they aren't lies. To sing true is to sing on-key, and a true throw is on-target. The true king is the real king, not a fake. A true friend can be trusted. A true believer really believes in something, like a religion. And when you're true to yourself, you're being honest about what you want and feel.
Vocabulary lists containing true
"Encounter"
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You Are Correct! Synonyms for "Right"
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Christine McVie (1943–2022) Tribute List
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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:
Maybe that's true, but Humberstone has always had the ability to locate a song's emotional core, and the lyrics on Cruel World don't disappoint.
From BBC ● Nov. 15, 2026
He was true to his word, and I was true to mine.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2026
Akash nodded, but Akshay pushed back, saying that may have been true once, but not now.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2026
Still, if the claim that those of unwavering confidence could win through their own hard work and talent are true, such seemingly deluded self-assurance may have been the key to their success.
From Slate ● Nov. 13, 2026
They just wondered if this was true or that was true.
From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott
The ghostly glimpse of an alternate future for the Cratchit family, imprisoned and desolate, feels truer to Dickens than the glib sentimentality of Tiny Tim’s empty place at the family hearth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2026
Neither idea materialised, but the suggestion went down well with some Bond fans, who noted a period piece would help make the film truer to Fleming's original character and books.
From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2026
Its benefits—cognitive diversity, locally fitted rules, parallel experimentation, choice among competing jurisdictions, and interpretations truer to what Congress enacted—are diffuse and hard to measure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
It is a truer gauge of the sector versus a more widely cited ETF External link, which is heavily weighted toward Amazon.com External link and Tesla.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
No pig ever had truer friends, and he realized that friendship is one of the most satisfying things in the world.
From "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White
That's the truest conversation you're ever going to have, and that's who I was arguing with in the writing of this.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
But which version of her Fielder — and, by extension, the audience — sees, and which version is the truest, remains up for debate.
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026
A vaccine in the truest sense of the word, as Graybosch puts it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Lamb is a celebrity sheriff in its truest, most American sense.
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2026
But beyond sating the national pride that had been pricked by the Soviet advance, the prospect of being involved in something that was so untried, untested, and unexplored connected with Katherine’s truest self.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
The trues had it: 70% in Caracas, 63% in Lima.
From Time Magazine Archive
Just three logical functions, called AND, OR and NOT, are needed to process Boole's "trues" and "falses," or Is and Os.
From Time Magazine Archive
"I don't care," were among the first words Cousin Magdalen made out clearly, "there isn't two trues, and what I'm telling is real true true, as true as true."
From Hoodie by Lewis Christopher Edward Baumer
I have lived with our trues heroes—the lower middle-classes.”
From The First Violin A Novel by Jessie Fothergill
And if peoples 'zinks so much about trues, they shouldn't vant me to say what isn't true about being in fun when I wasn't in fun.
From Hoodie by Lewis Christopher Edward Baumer
With the pyramids the Egyptians created gigantic scientific instruments for measuring the solar year, building their sides trued to the four cardinal directions.
From Time Magazine Archive
If you've had your Banshee cylinder trued and welded, put the crank into the bottom case and rotate the crank using the rods to do so.
From Time Magazine Archive
The plates are very readily fixed to the circular table H, and the edge of the flange trued up much quicker than by the ordinary means of chipping.
From Mechanical Drawing Self-Taught by Joshua Rose
The setting sun trued our reckoning and we ran on by the stars.
From Carette of Sark by John Oxenham
After the concrete had been rounded in place, the form was removed and the invert trued up.
From Concrete Construction Methods and Costs by Halbert Powers Gillette
Some were engaged in "trueing" the four great foundation beams of what was evidently to be a large building.
From The Westerners by Stewart Edward White
Presently he turned and spoke to the man: “Put your men at work trueing up the roadbed on the next section back, until further orders.”
From 'Firebrand' Trevison by P. V. E. (Percy Van Eman) Ivory
Her strappy sandals are making lots of noise as she runs around the class looking for a truing wheel--to give her pattern the appropriate curve.
From Time Magazine Archive
John hath written a sonnet on Philadelphus' wife and our Lady Amaryllis is truing his meter for him.
From The City of Delight A Love Drama of the Siege and Fall of Jerusalem by Frank X. Leyendecker
Slip the spider on the armature shaft and secure it solidly with the setscrew so that the shaft will not turn in the spider when truing up the armature core.
From The Boy Mechanic: Volume 1 700 Things for Boys to Do by Popular Mechanics Co.
The broken lines illustrate a condition after colleting and before truing.
From Rules and Practice for Adjusting Watches by Walter J. Kleinlein
This will be a trifle thicker than the course so as to allow for truing the surface of each finished course in the lathe.
From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Joshua Rose
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