half-truth

[haf-trooth, hahf-]

noun

plural

half-truths 

1. a statement that is only partly true, especially one intended to deceive, evade blame, or the like.

2. a statement that fails to divulge the whole truth.

half-truth

noun

1. a partially true statement intended to mislead

Other Word Forms

• half-true adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of half-truth¹

First recorded in 1650–60

Example Sentences

A wave of misinformation, half-truths and lies on social media, including false claims that the killer was a Muslim asylum seeker, sparked riots in towns and cities across England and Northern Ireland.

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Bar immediately responded in kind in a statement, saying Netanyahu's affidavit was "full of inaccuracies, biased quotes and half-truths aimed at taking things out of context and changing reality".

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People have to also be able to evaluate those words, spotting the half-truths, hyperbole, ambiguities, inaccuracies, and values behind those words — and those skills go back to social studies.

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Instead, Donald Trump has delivered a stream of exaggeration, half-truths and outright lies about the war that echo the views of President Putin.

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In the letter addressed to the Health Secretary Jeremy Miles, The British Dental Association Cymru Wales accused the Welsh government of pedalling "half-truths" about their messaging and statistics.

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Related Words

• cover-up 
• deceit 
• deception 
• dishonesty 
• distortion 
• fabrication 
• fakery 
• fallacy 
• falsity 
• misstatement www.thesaurus.com
• perjury 
• prevarication 
• sham 
• tall tale 
• untruth