falsehood

American  

[fawls-hood] / ˈfɔls hʊd /

noun

• falsehoods
  plural

1. a false statement; lie.

   Synonyms:

   story, fiction, invention, canard, falsification, prevarication, fabrication

2. something false; an untrue idea, belief, etc..

   The Nazis propagated the falsehood of racial superiority.

3. the act of lying or making false statements.

4. lack of conformity to truth or fact.

   Synonyms:

   mendacity, inveracity, untruthfulness

5. Obsolete. deception.

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falsehood British  

/ ˈfɔːlsˌhʊd /

noun

1. the quality of being untrue

2. an untrue statement; lie

3. the act of deceiving or lying

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Synonym Usage

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.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• falsehoods
  plural

Etymology

Origin of falsehood

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English falsehead, falshede; see origin at false, -hood

Explanation

A falsehood is a lie. If your mom has an uncanny knack for knowing when you're telling a falsehood, it means she always knows when you're stretching the truth. The noun falsehood is a slightly fancy or old-fashioned way of saying "lie." It's hard to ever completely trust a friend again once he's told you a falsehood, although sometimes people tell small falsehoods simply to make others feel better. Telling your aunt her pink hair looks fine is a small falsehood, while lying about your grades on a college application is a pretty big falsehood. The Latin root is falsus, "deceived or erroneous."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

falsehood falsehoods

Seoul later demanded Ukraine apologise for "announcing a falsehood" and said its actions had seriously damaged trust between the two nations.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

Rather than respond to every claim, Logan says his office picks its battles, intervening only when a falsehood appears likely to reach a wide audience.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

One reason we need freedom is that the government can as easily outlaw truth as falsehood.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026

"Anyone with a big social media following has a potential profit-taking opportunity if they spread the right falsehood at the right time."

From Barron's ● Jun. 13, 2026

It’s like trying to imagine any falsehood: that the sun revolves around the earth; that humans can fly; that the world is nonviolent.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

O’Brien sees the Nazi allegations as falsehoods that steal attention from the actor’s actual sins.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

The falsehoods -- circulating across tech platforms including X, TikTok and Facebook -- have also added fresh fuel to a longstanding conspiracy theory that NASA's 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing was faked.

From Barron's ● Apr. 11, 2026

This has allowed purveyors of falsehoods to build audiences on social media and podcasts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026

AI programmes have vastly simplified tasks in the workplace but generative AI systems are known for their ability to "hallucinate" and assert falsehoods as fact, even sometimes inventing sources for the inaccurate information.

From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026

The chief mate leaned in, examining her with his dead gray eyes, scanning for falsehoods the way he’d scan the Current for leaks.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee

Related Words

• cover-up
• deceit
• deception
• dishonesty
• distortion
• fabrication
• fakery
• fallacy
• falsity
• misstatement
• perjury
• prevarication
• sham
• tall tale
• untruth