false-positive

[ fawls-poz-i-tiv ]

/ ˈfɔlsˈpɒz ɪ tɪv /

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noun Also false positive .

Medicine/Medical.

a test result that is incorrect because the test indicated a condition or finding that does not exist: a false-positive for syphilis.
a person who receives this test result.

any screening test result that incorrectly detected or classified a person or thing: A false-positive at the airport could cause you to miss your flight.
a person or thing identified by such a test.

adjective

pertaining to or being a false-positive: The test has a false-positive rate of 4%.

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Compare false-negative.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use false-positive in a sentence

There was a lot of positive feedback from people interested in non-gender binary people.
Grindr’s Trans Dating Problem|David Levesley|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But he, like many people using dating apps whatever their sexual identity, remains stoutly positive.
Grindr’s Trans Dating Problem|David Levesley|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
And the fact that satire unnerves the intolerant is evidence of its positive power.
Why We Stand With Charlie Hebdo—And You Should Too|John Avlon|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The trials produced positive results, published in The New England Journal of Medicine in November.
The Race for the Ebola Vaccine|Abby Haglage|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST

And more than that—the world is ending because of the changes that many of us see as positive.
The Evangelical Apocalypse Is All Your Fault|Jay Michaelson|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
He was positive he had seen some one enter the room, go to the chair, and take the money from his pockets.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
But the sheer quantity of the inflated currency and false money forces prices higher still.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock
At last his anxiety reached a point where he was positive that if he received an adverse decision, it would surely kill him.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
Some hidden magnetism burst from him like an aura, and his cold pasty face and light gray eyes flamed into positive beauty.
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton
The rest is done by cutting away two upper and four under-teeth, and substituting false ones at the desired angle.
Checkmate|Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

British Dictionary definitions for false-positive

false positive

noun

a result in a medical test that wrongly indicates the presence of the condition being tested for

a person from whom such a result is obtained

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

Medical definitions for false-positive

false positive

A positive test result in a subject that does not possess the attribute for which the test is being conducted.

Other words from false positive

false′-pos•i•tive adj.