falsify
Americanverb (used with object)
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to make false or incorrect, especially so as to deceive.
to falsify income-tax reports.
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to alter fraudulently.
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to represent falsely.
He falsified the history of his family to conceal his humble origins.
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to show or prove to be false; disprove.
to falsify a theory.
- Synonyms:
- controvert, confute, refute, discredit, rebut
verb (used without object)
verb
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to make (a report, evidence, accounts, etc) false or inaccurate by alteration, esp in order to deceive
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to prove false; disprove
Synonym Usage
See misrepresent.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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falsifysimple
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falsifiessimple
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have falsifiedperfect
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has falsifiedperfect
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am falsifyingprogressive
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are falsifyingprogressive
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is falsifyingprogressive
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have been falsifyingperfect progressive
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has been falsifyingperfect progressive
Past
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falsifiedsimple
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had falsifiedperfect
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was falsifyingprogressive
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were falsifyingprogressive
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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.
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
A GP says she has experienced patients putting "weights on their backs" to falsify readings in order to be prescribed weight-loss injections online.
From BBC • Dec. 18, 2025
So he allegedly coordinated with AlHusseini to falsify financial records and inflate AlHusseini’s worth by tens of millions of dollars.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 14, 2025
It's easy to see why they're so frustrated that Bondi won't simply falsify some documents.
From Salon • Mar. 19, 2025
It makes predictions and claims that are almost impossible to falsify since an alternative formulation consistent with what happened is always easy to dream up.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
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.
