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:
Two recently sued StubHub, the largest independent ticket resale marketplace in the U.S., for false advertising.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2026
The controversy began after Tamil novelist Perumal Murugan raised concerns about books containing false information and questionable authorship at a newly opened library in Coimbatore city.
From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2026
“This unwanted scrutiny and the ensuing media stories, which contain false information, has caused significant damage to Ms. Hudson, which would not have occurred had Defendants not leaked Ms. Hudson’s personal and private information.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2026
The investigation aims to find "the authors of the emails who disseminated this false information... and to determine any potential links they may have to foreign powers", the office of the Paris prosecutor told AFP.
From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2026
Both had trouble generating conviction of their own but no trouble at all reacting to what they viewed as the false conviction of others.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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
When men are falling, false friends grow falser; even true ones becoming cold.
From The Death Shot A Story Retold by Mayne Reid
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
Our cohorts, constantly compelled to wade through your forest marshes, upbraid you with fierce hatred as the falsest of the peoples.
From A Captive of the Roman Eagles by Felix Dahn
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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.
