factoid

[fak-toid]

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.

Origin of factoid

First recorded in 1973; fact + -oid

Related formsfac·toi·dal, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for factoid

Contemporary Examples of factoid

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
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
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

British Dictionary definitions for factoid

factoid

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

Word Origin and History for factoid

1973, from fact + -oid, first explained, if not coined, by Norman Mailer.

Factoids ... that is, facts which have no existence before appearing in a magazine or newspaper, creations which are not so much lies as a product to manipulate emotion in the Silent Majority. [Mailer, "Marilyn," 1973]