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falsify

[fawl-suh-fahy]
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verb (used with object), fal·si·fied, fal·si·fy·ing.
  1. to make false or incorrect, especially so as to deceive: to falsify income-tax reports.
  2. to alter fraudulently.
  3. to represent falsely: He falsified the history of his family to conceal his humble origins.
  4. to show or prove to be false; disprove: to falsify a theory.
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verb (used without object), fal·si·fied, fal·si·fy·ing.
  1. to make false statements.
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Origin of falsify

1400–50; late Middle English falsifien < Middle French falsifier < Late Latin falsificāre. See false, -ify
Related formsfal·si·fi·a·ble, adjectivefal·si·fi·a·bil·i·ty, nounfal·si·fi·ca·tion [fawl-suh-fi-key-shuh n] /ˈfɔl sə fɪˈkeɪ ʃən/, nounfal·si·fi·er, nounnon·fal·si·fi·a·ble, adjectiveun·fal·si·fi·a·ble, adjectiveun·fal·si·fied, adjective

Synonyms

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1, 3. See misrepresent. 4. rebut, discredit, refute, confute, controvert.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

contravene, pervert, exaggerate, contradict, misstate, distort, deceive, fake, forge, counterfeit, traverse, color, twist, prevaricate, lie, doctor, equivocate, gloss, fib, change

Examples from the Web for falsify

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • To ignore it, and it is too commonly ignored, is to falsify every issue.

    The Truth About Woman

    C. Gasquoine Hartley

  • To do that would be to falsify history and disregard the artistic canons.

    Sir Henry Morgan, Buccaneer

    Cyrus Townsend Brady

  • What motive could any of us have had to mislead or falsify the history of the war.

    A Military Genius

    Sarah Ellen Blackwell

  • But we must not falsify observation to avoid theoretical difficulties.

    The Analysis of Mind

    Bertrand Russell

  • To forget it, and it is commonly forgotten, is to falsify every issue.

British Dictionary definitions for falsify

falsify

verb -fies, -fying or -fied (tr)
  1. to make (a report, evidence, accounts, etc) false or inaccurate by alteration, esp in order to deceive
  2. to prove false; disprove
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Derived Formsfalsifiable, adjectivefalsification (ˌfɔːlsɪfɪˈkeɪʃən), nounfalsifier, noun

Word Origin

C15: from Old French falsifier, from Late Latin falsificāre, from Latin falsus false + facere to make
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

Word Origin and History for falsify

v.

mid-15c., "to prove false," from Middle French falsifier (15c.), from Late Latin falsificare (see falsify). Meaning "to make false" is from c.1500. Earlier verb was simply falsen (c.1200). Related: Falsified; falsifying.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper