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)
-
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:
That’s especially true for small-market clubs, who have determined that allocating a large portion of their payroll to someone who will throw 65 innings all season isn’t necessarily a smart use of their budget.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
The same is true for Scotland and Northern Ireland where temperatures will rise closer to 20C at best.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
“Both things are true: I am responsible for what I did. Power does not distribute consequences evenly.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
This is particularly true since, unlike most of the countries ranked by the OECD, the student body in major American school districts is overwhelmingly low-income and heavily immigrant.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026
How she lived all her life not knowing what had happened to her, until her one true friend came back into her life.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
“For many years, the numbers were under-counted and what we’re seeing now is a truer representation of the sports audience,” Mulvihill said in a recent interview.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
The tradition calls people to shed the performance of acceptability and live from a truer place.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 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
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
A thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer than the truth.
From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien
Lamb is a celebrity sheriff in its truest, most American sense.
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2026
"It's a team in the truest sense of the word. There are no big stars, no freeloaders," Skauge said.
From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026
The truest to buttery brioche in flavor and texture, and through its lightness, one could almost convince oneself this is breakfast.
From Salon ● Feb. 5, 2026
Combining Östlund’s taste for the outrageous and absurd with this simple yet terrifyingly relatable premise may make this the year’s truest horror film.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 1, 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
The trues had it: 70% in Caracas, 63% in Lima.
From Time Magazine Archive
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
I have lived with our trues heroes—the lower middle-classes.”
From The First Violin A Novel by Fothergill, Jessie
"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 Baumer, Lewis Christopher Edward
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 Baumer, Lewis Christopher Edward
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 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
The first side face being trued, it should be placed against the fixed jaw while the other edge is shaped.
From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Rose, Joshua
New balance staff, two balance screws changed, hairspring trued and cleaned.
From Rules and Practice for Adjusting Watches by Kleinlein, Walter J.
If there are two keys the edges and one face may be trued up as just described, and both keys k, Fig.
From Modern Machine-Shop Practice, Volumes I and II by Rose, Joshua
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 Ivory, P. V. E. (Percy Van Eman)
Some were engaged in "trueing" the four great foundation beams of what was evidently to be a large building.
From The Westerners by White, Stewart Edward
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
The broken lines illustrate a condition after colleting and before truing.
From Rules and Practice for Adjusting Watches by Kleinlein, Walter J.
Mention has been previously made of the importance of truing both valve head and seat before attempt is made to refit the parts by grinding.
From Aviation Engines Design?Construction?Operation and Repair by Pag?, Victor Wilfred
FUSELAGE.—The method of truing the fuselage is laid down in the aeroplane's specifications.
From The Aeroplane Speaks by Barber, H. (Horatio)
John hath written a sonnet on Philadelphus' wife and our Lady Amaryllis is truing his meter for him.
From The City of Delight A Love Drama of the Siege and Fall of Jerusalem by Leyendecker, Frank X.
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.
