true
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.
firm in allegiance; loyal; faithful; steadfast: a true friend.
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.
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.
exact or accurate formation, position, or adjustment: to be out of true.
the true, something that is true; truth.
in a true manner; truly; truthfully.
exactly or accurately.
in conformity with the ancestral type: to breed true.
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 by up): to true up the sides of a door.
Idioms about true
come true, to have the expected or hoped-for result; become a reality: She couldn't believe that her dream would ever come true.
Origin of true
1synonym study For true
Other words for true
Other words from true
- trueness, noun
- half-true, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use true in a sentence
This was never truer than in the cases involving Michael Brown and Eric Garner.
The Post-Brown and Garner Question: Who ‘Deserves’ to Die? | Goldie Taylor | December 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTTruer words were never spoken (except for maybe the whole "nutritious" thing).
An Investigation Into the Delicious Origins of Ice Cream | Andrew Romano | July 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIf you trust your inner sense of sound, you create something that is truer.
Japan’s Beloved Deaf Composer is Neither Deaf Nor a Composer | Jimmy So | February 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIt felt truer and more real, and the response was much more immediate.
Inside the Obsessive, Strange Mind of True Detective’s Nic Pizzolatto | Andrew Romano | February 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWhat I represent is the fact that anyone in America can overcome their identity limitations and be truer to themselves.
Atheist Ex-Pastor Jerry DeWitt’s Mission to Red America | David Masciotra | November 17, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Only they saw deeper and truer into their profession, and found the secret of a true, happy, honourable and godly life.
Third class in Indian railways | Mahatma GandhiHe must take his thought and shape it anew—into some art-work finer, stronger, truer than he had yet achieved.
Love's Pilgrimage | Upton SinclairBetter, truer friends a man could not have; and I want them to know the worst and the best there is, if there is any best.
You Never Know Your Luck, Complete | Gilbert ParkerNever had a truer hero been borne to the grave, nor one more thoroughly worthy of the name of MAN.
Robert Moffat | David J. DeaneA day or two later another little event helped to confirm Jacinth's better and truer views of her great disappointment.
Robin Redbreast | Mary Louisa Molesworth
British Dictionary definitions for true
/ (truː) /
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: the true expansion of a liquid takes into account the expansion of the container Compare apparent (def. 3)
not true informal unbelievable; remarkable: she's got so much money it's not true
true to life exactly comparable with reality
correct alignment (esp in the phrases in true, out of true)
truthfully; rightly
precisely or unswervingly: he shot true
biology without variation from the ancestral type: to breed true
(tr) to adjust so as to make true
Origin of true
1Derived forms of true
- trueness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with true
In addition to the idioms beginning with true
- true blue
- true colors
- true to
also see:
- come true
- course of true love
- dream come true
- find true north
- hold good (true)
- ring false (true)
- run (true) to form
- too good to be true
- tried and true
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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