untruth
Americannoun
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untruths
plural
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the state or character of being untrue.
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want of veracity; divergence from truth.
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something untrue; a falsehood or lie.
- Synonyms:
- invention, fabrication, tale, story, fiction
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Archaic. unfaithfulness; disloyalty.
noun
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the state or quality of being untrue
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a statement, fact, etc, that is not true
Synonym Usage
See falsehood.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of untruth
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English untrēowth: see un- 1, truth
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:
Like some of her real-world counterparts, Madame M. is essentially a chief disinformation officer more interested in supplying untruth than decrying it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 20, 2025
It follows that millions of applications have been filed over the years with some untruth inside, with the vast majority being approved.
From Slate ● Sep. 15, 2025
The crossbencher said, without that verification, "we're being asked to complicit in a present-day untruth and a future fantasy".
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2024
The purpose is not to forward any one particular untruth, but to throw out so many conflicting and outrageous claims that people no longer know what to believe, or what they might do about it.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 10, 2024
“One lie. What you said about your friend was an untruth, but that’s it. Who you are is not a lie.”
From "A High Five for Glenn Burke" by Phil Bildner
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"This has convinced me to write down my own thoughts and memories, once and for all," he said, adding many opinions were "based on untruths that have become accepted over time".
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
“The untruths, mischaracterizations, and revisionist history in your email paint a completely misleading narrative,” Shotwell told the Journal in a statement in 2024.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 11, 2026
He interrupted Ms. Welker more than a dozen times, intimidatingly ignoring her questions, disavowing her right to direct the conversation, and shamelessly repeating lies and untruths.
From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2023
"I am here to do one thing and one thing only: to set the record straight and to call out some untruths."
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2023
How would she know the truths from the untruths?
From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys
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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.