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"
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
You Are Correct! Synonyms for "Right"
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Christine McVie (1943–2022) Tribute List
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
But, as of Sunday night, legitimate doubt has been cast on whether that remains true.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
When it comes to places to retire, sometimes the tried and true also turns out to be the best.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026
The facility is now expected to accommodate 1,000 guests, up from the initial 650 people projected, and its original $200 million price tag has doubled, though the true cost of the project is unknown.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
Additional studies will be needed to determine whether the findings hold true in broader and more diverse populations, and to establish which patients are most likely to benefit from each treatment strategy.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 30, 2026
But he guessed that, after all, it was true.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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
But look past all that technical prowess, and you’ll find a remarkably introspective story about the complexities of integrity, examining the choices we make and the sacrifices we endure to become truer versions of ourselves.
From Salon ● May 1, 2026
As a spinner, he was brought into the XI for the turning conditions in Colombo but England's semi-final is likely to be on a truer surface in Mumbai on Thursday.
From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2026
The echoing aphorism is apparently nowhere truer than in cavernous Olympic hockey ice arenas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026
For the rest of the summer it seemed to get truer and truer.
From "Miracles on Maple Hill" by Virginia Sorensen
As Lawson said of the novel 125 years ago, “the book is true to Australia—the truest I ever read.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Lamb is a celebrity sheriff in its truest, most American sense.
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2026
The truest of blue-and-gold bloods, Gabriela decided in third grade that she wanted to play for UCLA.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2026
"It's a team in the truest sense of the word. There are no big stars, no freeloaders," Skauge said.
From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026
“At the beginning of the year you said the truest thing about a person was whose blood they had in their heart. Do you remember that?”
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
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
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
I have lived with our trues heroes—the lower middle-classes.”
From The First Violin A Novel by Jessie Fothergill
"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
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
As each surface is trued, it should be carefully smoothed with the cutter set to cut fine shavings.
From Handwork in Wood by William Noyes
This is trued up on a lathe and encased in a brass tube.
From How it Works Dealing in simple language with steam, electricity, light, heat, sound, hydraulics, optics, etc., and with their applications to apparatus in common use by Archibald Williams
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
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 smoothing plane is used for smoothing rather than truing work, and is made shorter than the truing plane so as to be handier in using.
From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Joshua Rose
Allow a little "spare" on the boards for truing up.
From Things To Make by Archibald Williams
The use of airplanes in this country will require men for rigging, for truing up the wires and struts.
From Opportunities in Aviation by Arthur Sweetser
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.
