canard

[kuh-nahrd, ka-nar]

noun

plural

canards 

1. a false or baseless, usually derogatory story, report, or rumor.

2. Cooking.,  a duck intended or used for food.

3. Aeronautics.

   1. an airplane that has its horizontal stabilizer and elevators located forward of the wing.

   2. Also called canard wing. one of two small lifting wings located in front of the main wings.

   3. an early airplane having a pusher engine with the rudder and elevator assembly in front of the wings.

canard

/ kæˈnɑːd, kanar /

noun

1. a false report; rumour or hoax

2. an aircraft in which the tailplane is mounted in front of the wing

Word History and Origins

Origin of canard¹

First recorded in 1840–45; from French: literally, “duck,” from Old French quanart “drake,” originally “cackler,” equivalent to can(er) “to cackle” (of expressive origin) + -art -art, as in mallart “drake”; mallard

Word History and Origins

Origin of canard¹

C19: from French: a duck, hoax, from Old French caner to quack, of imitative origin

Example Sentences

But the right-wing canard concerning left-wing bias persists regardless of the many polls conducted by nonpartisan organizations that have affirmed public radio and television’s status as top among the United States’ most trusted institutions.

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He said “this epidemic denial has become a feature in the mainstream media and it’s based on an industry canard” perpetrated by “people who don’t want us to look at environmental exposures.”

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There’s no consensus that these are actually boys," he said. "This whole thing about trans girls is a canard.

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Vance started off the interview with a favorite canard of the Donald Trump campaign in recent weeks: that the federal response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton was delayed because affected areas reliably vote for Republicans.

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Anslinger was one of the greatest con men of that century, and racist canards were his stock in trade.

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Related Words

• hoax