falsehood
[ fawls-hoo d ]
/ ˈfɔls hʊd /
noun
a false statement; lie.
something false; an untrue idea, belief, etc.: The Nazis propagated the falsehood of racial superiority.
the act of lying or making false statements.
lack of conformity to truth or fact.
Obsolete. deception.
RELATED CONTENT
RELATED WORDS
prevarication, deception, falsity, misstatement, cover-up, distortion, perjury, untruth, deceit, sham, dishonesty, fabrication, fallacy, fakery, falseness, canard, fable, story, fiction, fib
Nearby words
- false-negative,
- false-negative reaction,
- false-positive,
- false-positive reaction,
- false-start,
- falseness,
- falsetto,
- falsework,
- falsie,
- falsies
Origin of falsehood
Synonym study
1. Falsehood, fib, lie, untruth refer to something untrue or incorrect. A falsehood is a statement that distorts or suppresses the truth, in order to deceive: to tell a falsehood about one's ancestry in order to gain acceptance. A fib denotes a trivial falsehood, and is often used to characterize that which is not strictly true: a polite fib. A lie is a vicious falsehood: to tell a lie about one's neighbor. An untruth is an incorrect statement, either intentionally misleading (less harsh, however, than falsehood or lie) or arising from misunderstanding or ignorance: I'm afraid you are telling an untruth.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for falsehood
falsehood
/ (ˈfɔːlsˌhʊd) /
noun
the quality of being untrue
an untrue statement; lie
the act of deceiving or lying
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
falsehood
late 13c., falshede, "deceitfulness," also "a lie," from false + -hood.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper