false
Americanadjective
-
not true or correct; erroneous.
a false statement.
-
uttering or declaring what is untrue.
a false witness.
- Synonyms:
- mendacious, lying, untruthful
-
not faithful or loyal; treacherous.
a false friend.
- Synonyms:
- traitorous, perfidious, inconstant, unfaithful, disloyal, disingenuous, hypocritical, insincere
-
tending to deceive or mislead; deceptive.
a false impression.
- Synonyms:
- fallacious, misleading
-
not genuine; counterfeit.
- Synonyms:
- artificial, bogus, spurious, artificial
-
based on mistaken, erroneous, or inconsistent impressions, ideas, or facts.
false pride.
-
used as a substitute or supplement, especially temporarily.
false supports for a bridge.
-
Biology. having a superficial resemblance to something that properly bears the name.
the false acacia.
-
not properly, accurately, or honestly made, done, or adjusted.
a false balance.
-
inaccurate in pitch, as a musical note.
adverb
idioms
adjective
-
not in accordance with the truth or facts
-
irregular or invalid
a false start
-
untruthful or lying
a false account
-
not genuine, real, or natural; artificial; fake
false eyelashes
-
being or intended to be misleading or deceptive
a false rumour
-
disloyal or treacherous
a false friend
-
based on mistaken or irrelevant ideas or facts
false pride
a false argument
-
(prenominal) (esp of plants) superficially resembling the species specified
false hellebore
-
serving to supplement or replace, often temporarily
a false keel
-
music
-
(of a note, interval, etc) out of tune
-
(of the interval of a perfect fourth or fifth) decreased by a semitone
-
(of a cadence) interrupted or imperfect
-
adverb
Synonym Usage
False, sham, counterfeit agree in referring to something that is not genuine. False is used mainly of imitations of concrete objects; it sometimes implies an intent to deceive: false teeth; false hair. Sham is rarely used of concrete objects and usually has the suggestion of intent to deceive: sham title; sham tears. Counterfeit always has the implication of cheating; it is used particularly of spurious imitation of coins, paper money, etc.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of false
First recorded before 1000; Middle English, Old English fals, from Latin falsus “feigned, false,” originally past participle of fallere “to deceive”; reinforced by or reborrowed from Anglo-French, Old French fals (feminine false ), from Latin
Explanation
Something that's false is wrong or untrue. If you spread false rumors about a friend, you're telling lies. When you read a fact in a textbook that you know is mistaken, you can describe it as false. Giving someone a false impression about your family's pizza place — implying that it's a fancy restaurant when it's really a take-out counter and a pizza oven — means you're giving the wrong idea. False can also mean "fake," as in false eyelashes or a false smile. It comes from the Old French fals, which is faux in Modern French: "false,fake, incorrect, or mistaken."
Vocabulary lists containing false
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Then came a confusing correction: A product sample the agency had initially described as positive was later determined to be a false positive.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
The report concluded that KFA staff reported the expenses under false pretences, claiming the money was used for food and drink or massages.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Joe Biden’s clandestine 2023 train trip to Ukraine involved a false public schedule, but it also included two journalists—and everyone else found out about it as soon as Biden arrived.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
In this group, it detected nearly 80% of liver cancer cases at a specificity slightly above 90%, corresponding to a false positive rate of less than 10%.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
Cobblers were spies who specialized in making false documents, like birth certificates and passports, necessary to create a cover identity.
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
Almost everything that happens afterward feels even falser than the onion.
From New York Times ● Jun. 27, 2017
He tones down his own mugging from Zoolander this time out, retreating to a more familiar reasonable-and-rational act that makes Stiller's much more exaggerated performance look even falser by contrast.
From The Verge ● Feb. 11, 2016
The movie's involved story, full of false leads and falser dialogue, manages the difficult trick of getting more preposterous as it goes along.
From Time Magazine Archive
For the new Writers, building on their ground, thinking them true, add to them, and invent, and draw other Experiments from them, that are falser then the Principles they insisted on.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
“Your stars are falser than yourself,” tartly snapped the Duchess.
From Mistress Nell A Merry Tale of a Merry Time by George C. Hazelton
Isn’t a novel, as we might have said in high school, one of the falsest things going as well as one of the truest?
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 1, 2019
“Biography is the falsest of the arts,” he said.
From New York Times ● Feb. 5, 2010
The falsest of truisms is that art is communication, as Novelist Brigid Brophy demonstrates with this admirably wicked little book.
From Time Magazine Archive
But they were the falsest thing in the sea and the old man loved to see the big sea turtles eating them.
From "The Old Man and The Sea" by Ernest Hemingway
He is the falsest rogue and the greatest foe to knights-errant living.
From Historic Tales, Vol 14 (of 15) The Romance of Reality by Charles Morris
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
