true
Americanadjective
-
being in accordance with the actual state or conditions; conforming to reality or fact; not false.
a true story.
-
real; genuine; authentic.
true gold; true feelings.
-
sincere; not deceitful.
a true interest in someone's welfare.
- Synonyms:
- honest
-
firm in allegiance; loyal; faithful; steadfast.
a true friend.
- Synonyms:
- steady, constant, staunch, trustworthy
-
being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of something.
the true meaning of his statement.
-
conforming to or consistent with a standard, pattern, or the like.
a true copy.
-
exact; precise; accurate; correct.
a true balance.
- Synonyms:
- faithful
-
of the right kind; such as it should be; proper.
to arrange things in their true order.
-
properly so called; rightly answering to a description.
true statesmanship.
-
legitimate or rightful.
the true heir.
-
reliable, unfailing, or sure.
a true sign.
-
exactly or accurately shaped, formed, fitted, or placed, as a surface, instrument, or part of a mechanism.
-
honest; honorable; upright.
-
Biology. conforming to the type, norm, or standard of structure of a particular group; typical.
The lion is a true cat.
-
Animal Husbandry. purebred.
-
Navigation. (of a bearing, course, etc.) determined in relation to true north.
-
Archaic. truthful.
noun
-
exact or accurate formation, position, or adjustment.
to be out of true.
-
the true, something that is true; truth.
adverb
-
in a true manner; truly; truthfully.
-
exactly or accurately.
-
in conformity with the ancestral type.
to breed true.
verb (used with object)
-
trues,
present (3rd person singular)
-
trued,
past participle, past
-
trueing,
present participle
-
truing
present participle
-
to make true; shape, adjust, place, etc., exactly or accurately.
to true the wheels of a bicycle after striking a pothole.
-
(especially in carpentry) to make even, symmetrical, level, etc. (often followed byup ).
to true up the sides of a door.
idioms
adjective
-
not false, fictional, or illusory; factual or factually accurate; conforming with reality
-
(prenominal) being of real or natural origin; genuine; not synthetic
true leather
-
-
unswervingly faithful and loyal to friends, a cause, etc
a true follower
-
( as collective noun ; preceded by the )
the loyal and the true
-
-
faithful to a particular concept of truth, esp of religious truth
a true believer
-
conforming to a required standard, law, or pattern
a true aim
a true fit
-
exactly in tune
a true note
-
(of a compass bearing) according to the earth's geographical rather than magnetic poles
true north
-
biology conforming to the typical structure of a designated type
sphagnum moss is a true moss, Spanish moss is not
-
physics not apparent or relative; taking into account all complicating factors Compare apparent
the true expansion of a liquid takes into account the expansion of the container
-
informal unbelievable; remarkable
she's got so much money it's not true
-
exactly comparable with reality
noun
adverb
-
truthfully; rightly
-
precisely or unswervingly
he shot true
-
biology without variation from the ancestral type
to breed true
verb
Synonym Usage
See real 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
truesimple
-
truessimple
-
have truedperfect
-
has truedperfect
-
am trueingprogressive
-
am truingprogressive
-
are trueingprogressive
-
are truingprogressive
-
is trueingprogressive
-
is truingprogressive
-
have been trueingperfect progressive
-
have been truingperfect progressive
-
has been trueingperfect progressive
-
has been truingperfect progressive
Past
-
truedsimple
-
had truedperfect
-
was trueingprogressive
-
was truingprogressive
-
were trueingprogressive
-
were truingprogressive
-
had been trueingperfect progressive
-
had been truingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of true
before 900; Middle English trewe (adj. and adv.), Old English trēowe (adj.) loyal, trusty, honest ( trow, truce ); akin to Dutch trouw, German treu, Old Norse tryggr, Gothic triggws
Explanation
Things that are true are accurate, honest, and correct. There are many specific meanings, but when something is true, you can believe it. This word has many meanings, but they're all pretty much the opposite of false. True statements can be proven or verified — they aren't lies. To sing true is to sing on-key, and a true throw is on-target. The true king is the real king, not a fake. A true friend can be trusted. A true believer really believes in something, like a religion. And when you're true to yourself, you're being honest about what you want and feel.
Vocabulary lists containing true
"Encounter"
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You Are Correct! Synonyms for "Right"
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Christine McVie (1943–2022) Tribute List
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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.
See Examples For:
“And that’s a testament to Cole writing something very true and anchored in real emotion. I think anyone who has ever felt underestimated or misunderstood or overlooked can really identify with this role.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026
"Heartbroken, with a lump in our throats and unable to believe this is true, CD Tenerife announces the tragic death of Jesus de Miguel Alameda," a club statement said.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
Mr. deBoer calls the antipsychiatry movement “a true child of the late twentieth century.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
That’s also true of the broader U.S. economy.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026
My ridiculous daydreams about confessing my true feelings to Trey had always been sprinkled with puns or jokes, strategies for laughing it off without missing a beat, if he wasn’t receptive.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
“I think cats are like works of art that inspire you to be truer to yourself,” Meyer says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
It is a truer gauge of the sector versus a more widely cited ETF External link, which is heavily weighted toward Amazon.com External link and Tesla.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
But look past all that technical prowess, and you’ll find a remarkably introspective story about the complexities of integrity, examining the choices we make and the sacrifices we endure to become truer versions of ourselves.
From Salon ● May 1, 2026
As a spinner, he was brought into the XI for the turning conditions in Colombo but England's semi-final is likely to be on a truer surface in Mumbai on Thursday.
From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2026
No pig ever had truer friends, and he realized that friendship is one of the most satisfying things in the world.
From "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White
That's the truest conversation you're ever going to have, and that's who I was arguing with in the writing of this.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
But which version of her Fielder — and, by extension, the audience — sees, and which version is the truest, remains up for debate.
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026
The truest sign vacation season is over: Take a gander at the cuckoo hotel rates in New York City next week.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Lamb is a celebrity sheriff in its truest, most American sense.
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2026
When the guests at Tamar’s wedding ate the cream puffs, they could taste the truest thing in all the world at that moment—the baker’s pain.
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
Just three logical functions, called AND, OR and NOT, are needed to process Boole's "trues" and "falses," or Is and Os.
From Time Magazine Archive
The trues had it: 70% in Caracas, 63% in Lima.
From Time Magazine Archive
"I don't care," were among the first words Cousin Magdalen made out clearly, "there isn't two trues, and what I'm telling is real true true, as true as true."
From Hoodie by Lewis Christopher Edward Baumer
And if peoples 'zinks so much about trues, they shouldn't vant me to say what isn't true about being in fun when I wasn't in fun.
From Hoodie by Lewis Christopher Edward Baumer
I have lived with our trues heroes—the lower middle-classes.”
From The First Violin A Novel by Jessie Fothergill
If you've had your Banshee cylinder trued and welded, put the crank into the bottom case and rotate the crank using the rods to do so.
From Time Magazine Archive
With the pyramids the Egyptians created gigantic scientific instruments for measuring the solar year, building their sides trued to the four cardinal directions.
From Time Magazine Archive
If a saw arbor becomes heated enough to impair the tension of the saw, it has been hot enough to impair its own truth, and should be examined and trued if necessary.
From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Joshua Rose
The plates are very readily fixed to the circular table H, and the edge of the flange trued up much quicker than by the ordinary means of chipping.
From Mechanical Drawing Self-Taught by Joshua Rose
Smoothing planes are, as the name implies, used to simply smoothen the work surface after it has been trued.
From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Joshua Rose
Presently he turned and spoke to the man: “Put your men at work trueing up the roadbed on the next section back, until further orders.”
From 'Firebrand' Trevison by P. V. E. (Percy Van Eman) Ivory
Some were engaged in "trueing" the four great foundation beams of what was evidently to be a large building.
From The Westerners by Stewart Edward White
Her strappy sandals are making lots of noise as she runs around the class looking for a truing wheel--to give her pattern the appropriate curve.
From Time Magazine Archive
A set of valve truing and valve-seat reaming cutters is shown at Fig.
From Aviation Engines Design?Construction?Operation and Repair by Victor Wilfred Pag?
This will be a trifle thicker than the course so as to allow for truing the surface of each finished course in the lathe.
From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Joshua Rose
A balance of this description may be poised as it is and often will produce better timing results than would be gained by perfect truing and subsequent regulation during readjustment of the metals.
From Rules and Practice for Adjusting Watches by Walter J. Kleinlein
If the lathe has raised Vs on the bed it will be sufficient to true them only, without truing the flat surfaces.
From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Joshua Rose
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