ring false

Idioms and Phrases

Also, have a false or hollow ring ; strike a false note . Seem wrong or deceitful, as in Her denial rings false—I'm sure she was there when it happened , or His good wishes always seem to have a hollow ring , or Carol's congratulatory phone call really struck a false note . Ring false and the antonym, ring true , which means “seem genuine,” allude to the old practice of judging a coin genuine or fake by the sound it gives out when tapped. This practice became obsolete when coins ceased to be made of precious metals, but by then the idioms were being used to refer to other matters. [Mid-1800s]

Example Sentences

Our emotion should strike chords so strong and true that no minor dissonances of varying temperaments can make them ring false.

From Project Gutenberg

The words and phrases that had passed current on the street seemed to ring false here.

From Project Gutenberg

I could not see her suffer, I couldn't hear her laugh ring false.

From Project Gutenberg

This is one of the very few scenes in Turgenev that ring false, that belong to fiction-mongers rather than to fiction-masters.

From Project Gutenberg

With much reluctance, this was done, though the words with which the request was received might well be thought to ring false.

From Project Gutenberg