apocryphal
Americanadjective
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of doubtful authorship or authenticity.
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Ecclesiastical.
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(initial capital letter) of or relating to the Apocrypha.
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of doubtful sanction; uncanonical.
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false; spurious.
He told an apocryphal story about the sword, but the truth was later revealed.
adjective
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of questionable authenticity
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(sometimes capital) of or like the Apocrypha
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untrue; counterfeit
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of apocryphal
First recorded in 1580–90; apocryph(a) + -al 1
Explanation
Urban legends — stories about phantom hitchhikers, deep-fried rats, and spider eggs in bubblegum — are classic examples of apocryphal tales. They're told as if they're true, but no one can ever verify their origins or authenticity. Today, any dubious or unverifiable story may be dismissed as apocryphal. Originally, however, apocryphal was reserved for religious writings that were not included in the Torah or the New Testament of the Bible because the divinity of the texts was not certain. These texts are known as the Apocrypha and are included in the Septuagint (a Greek version of the Hebrew Bible) and the Vulgate (a Latin Bible edited in the 4th century).
Vocabulary lists containing apocryphal
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Fake It 'Til You Make It: Synonyms for "False"
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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.
The cheating scheme itself may well have been apocryphal, but it felt tantalizingly plausible.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Every kid learns the apocryphal story of George Washington chopping down a cherry tree and confessing: “I cannot tell a lie.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Writer-director Lotfy Nathan’s inspiration is an apocryphal 2nd century text called the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, which purports to describe the incident-filled childhood of a temperamental Jesus.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2025
“The American Revolution” doesn’t just correct apocryphal errors and present fascinating blow-by-blows of key battles; it provides more dimension to major motivations and important incidents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2025
But he wasn’t called anything because this is an apocryphal story, which means that it is a lie, too.
From "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon
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.
