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falsehood

UK/ˈfɒlsˌhʊd/
nounB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,852 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: falsehoods

A falsehood is a lie, or the state of being untrue. Utter a falsehood, a demonstrable falsehood, truth and falsehood.

It is the formal word and it is used precisely where lie would be an accusation — a falsehood may be told in error, and journalists reach for it to say a statement is untrue without claiming the speaker knew. Note the -hood ending, meaning a state, as in childhood.

Definitions of falsehood

  1. 1nounfalsehoodA lie, or the state of being untrue.B2+

    “The article was full of falsehoods, and the newspaper had to print an apology.”

falsehood is an untruth.

Where it comes from

Middle English falshede is false plus -hood, an ending meaning state or condition. Childhood uses the same ending.

  1. Middle English

    falshede

  2. English, today

    falsehood

From Middle English falshede, from false + -hede, equivalent to false + -hood.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word

falsehood in the wild

  • The paradox can be expressed as follows: "yields falsehood when preceded by its quotation" yields falsehood when preceded by its quotation.

    Quine's paradox

  • The verses call upon people to not be deceived by the glitter of falsehood because it is inevitably fleeting, while the truth shines throughout the entire universe.

    Ar-Ra'd

  • Batil is an Arabic word meaning falsehood, and can be used to describe a nullified or invalid act or contract according to the sharia.

    Batil

  • Theodore Bulpington develops into a pretentious fraud who finally affirms a modus vivendi of falsehood: "I am a lie.

    The Bulpington of Blup

  • The firehose of falsehood is a contemporary model for Russian propaganda under Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    Firehose of falsehood

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

From Project Gutenberg, public domain. These sentences are from real books, shown to illustrate the word at work.

Related words

  • false
  • falsify