factoid

[ fak-toid ]

/ ˈfæk tɔɪd /

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noun

an insignificant or trivial fact.

something fictitious or unsubstantiated that is presented as fact, devised especially to gain publicity and accepted because of constant repetition.

QUIZZES

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Question 1 of 10

Which pasta name means “butterflies”?

fettuccine

farfalle

penne

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Origin of factoid

First recorded in 1973; fact + -oid

OTHER WORDS FROM factoid

fac·toi·dal, adjective

Words nearby factoid

factitious, factitious disorder, factitive, factive, fact of life, factoid, factor, factorage, factor analysis, factor cost, factor group

How to use factoid in a sentence

The answers to factoid questions are easy to find in knowledge bases compared with nuanced complex open-domain questions such as the one in the passage indexing example provided by Google.
Could Google passage indexing be leveraging BERT?|Dawn Anderson|October 29, 2020|Search Engine Land
Each of these factoids gets joined up with billions of others in a sprawling, interconnected network of facts.
This know-it-all AI learns by reading the entire web nonstop|Will Heaven|September 4, 2020|MIT Technology Review
The Democratic PACs had outraised them, which is an interesting little factoid in and of itself.
Is the GOP Finally Scorching Itself?|Michael Tomasky|September 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
What is wrong and embarrassing is the President of the United States reciting a massively discredited factoid.
No, Women Don’t Make Less Money Than Men|Christina Hoff Sommers|February 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Though it does note that she has a tattoo—and that factoid is helpfully paired with the phrase “tough as nails.”
Leave Jill Abramson Alone, You Sexists|Tricia Romano|April 24, 2013|DAILY BEAST
And by consumer and supplier agreement, no fact, factoid, or truthiness is too small to register.
Can the Heart and Blood-Pressure Pill Propranolol Cure Racism?|Kent Sepkowitz|March 13, 2012|DAILY BEAST
McCarthy contributes the factoid, “We have four million more government jobs in America than manufacturing jobs.”
Paul Ryan Breaks Rank|John Batchelor|September 26, 2010|DAILY BEAST

British Dictionary definitions for factoid

factoid

/ (ˈfæktɔɪd) /

noun

a piece of unreliable information believed to be true because of the way it is presented or repeated in print

Word Origin for factoid

C20 (coined by Norman Mailer): from fact + -oid

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012