falsify
Americanverb (used with object)
-
falsifies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
falsified,
past participle, past
-
falsifying
present participle
-
to make false or incorrect, especially so as to deceive.
to falsify income-tax reports.
-
to alter fraudulently.
-
to represent falsely.
He falsified the history of his family to conceal his humble origins.
-
to show or prove to be false; disprove.
to falsify a theory.
- Synonyms:
- controvert, confute, refute, discredit, rebut
verb (used without object)
-
falsifies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
falsified,
past participle, past
-
falsifying
present participle
verb
-
to make (a report, evidence, accounts, etc) false or inaccurate by alteration, esp in order to deceive
-
to prove false; disprove
Synonym Usage
See misrepresent.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
falsifysimple
-
falsifiessimple
-
have falsifiedperfect
-
has falsifiedperfect
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am falsifyingprogressive
-
are falsifyingprogressive
-
is falsifyingprogressive
-
have been falsifyingperfect progressive
-
has been falsifyingperfect progressive
Past
-
falsifiedsimple
-
had falsifiedperfect
-
was falsifyingprogressive
-
were falsifyingprogressive
-
had been falsifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of falsify
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English falsifien, from Middle French falsifier, from Late Latin falsificāre; see origin at false, -ify
Explanation
To falsify is to alter or mangle something, like a message or document, in a way that distorts the meaning. Since false things aren't true, to falsify something is to dishonestly change its meaning. If a friend tells you a story, and then you retell the story but change important facts, you falsified the story. If you lie in court — commit perjury — you're falsifying the facts. Faking someone else's signature is another type of falsifying, as is lying on your resume. Anytime you misrepresent the truth, you're falsifying.
Vocabulary lists containing falsify
A Long Way from Chicago
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Salt to the Sea
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Unit 2: Vocabulary from Readings 1
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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:
It said employees are never instructed to falsify data or report “zeros,” that no data is omitted from reports and that equipment is properly calibrated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
Candidates or senators who willingly falsify financial disclosures can be fined up to $50,000 or prosecuted for making a false statement to the government, a felony.
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026
“The passage of Senate Bill 1159 is an important step to clarify the law and discourage the use of emerging technologies to falsify public records and mislead regulators in California,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday said that it was "intolerable" that the revision books for the French school leavers' exam, the baccalaureat, "falsify the facts" about the "terrorist and antisemitic attacks by Hamas".
From Barron's ● Jan. 16, 2026
And as proof I would falsify the attendance records by filling out membership cards with fictitious names—all unemployed, of course, so as to avoid any question of dues.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
It falsifies not just Black history but American history.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 2, 2023
Treasury has said that anyone who falsifies documentation or otherwise hides the true origin or price of Russian oil would face consequences under the domestic law of jurisdictions implementing the price cap.
From Reuters ● Sep. 20, 2022
“If a federal law enforcement officer lies, manipulates witnesses, and falsifies evidence, should the officer be liable for damages?” the U.S.
From New York Times ● Sep. 12, 2021
Veteran rancher John Landsburg faces federal bureaucracy when his old enemy, Tap Peterson, falsifies documents and alleges that Landsburg doesn’t own his family ranch.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2020
Just so, in a curve, the same direction is never followed, and the conception of it as a myriad-sided polygon falsifies it by supposing it to do so for however short a time.
From A Pluralistic Universe Hibbert Lectures at Manchester College on the Present Situation in Philosophy by William James
In 2024, two further reports highlighted observations being missed then records falsified to suggest patients had been checked.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
The lawyer and the archivist were later convicted on falsified documents-related charges, though the lawyer’s case is being retried.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
The woman alleged that the deputy falsified a break-in report just to visit her home, and he later pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges, according to a civil lawsuit and court records.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Angry scenes have erupted outside a court after the family of a woman killed in a triple fatal car crash confronted a garage owner who falsified an MOT just weeks before.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Thus the no boundary proposal is a good scientific theory in the sense of Karl Popper: it could have been falsified by observations but instead its predictions have been confirmed.
From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking
So far, the head of the institute has said the only reasons to strip fellows of their titles is if they’ve conducted scientific misconduct, things like falsifying data, Twelvetrees said.
From Salon ● Feb. 24, 2026
But according to the indictment, he paid himself above-market rate to “rent” properties he already owned, falsifying records to show he’d paid market rate to made-up landlords in order to house his clients.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2026
He shared documents that show he warned the SFO in May 2022 that Vashi was defrauding investors and falsifying accounts.
From BBC ● Nov. 21, 2025
The defendants engaged in a "deliberate and deceptive effort to transship controlled Nvidia GPUs to China by falsifying paperwork, creating fake contracts, and misleading US authorities," Assistant Attorney General John Eisenberg said in a statement.
From Barron's ● Nov. 20, 2025
The immediate advantages of falsifying the past were obvious, but the ultimate motive was mysterious.
From "1984" by George Orwell
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
