factoid

[ fak-toid ]

noun

1. an insignificant or trivial fact.
2. something fictitious or unsubstantiated that is presented as fact, devised especially to gain publicity and accepted because of constant repetition.

factoid

/ ˈfæktɔɪd /

noun

1. a piece of unreliable information believed to be true because of the way it is presented or repeated in print

Other Words From

• fac·toidal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of factoid¹

First recorded in 1973; fact + -oid

Word History and Origins

Origin of factoid¹

C20 (coined by Norman Mailer ): from fact + -oid

Example Sentences

Factoids like this often form the basis of conservative and libertarian arguments about government waste or overreach.

From Washington Post

The answers to factoid questions are easy to find in knowledge bases compared with nuanced complex open-domain questions such as the one in the passage indexing example provided by Google.

From Search Engine Land

Each of these factoids gets joined up with billions of others in a sprawling, interconnected network of facts.

From MIT Technology Review

The Democratic PACs had outraised them, which is an interesting little factoid in and of itself.

From The Daily Beast

What is wrong and embarrassing is the President of the United States reciting a massively discredited factoid.

From The Daily Beast

Though it does note that she has a tattoo—and that factoid is helpfully paired with the phrase “tough as nails.”

From The Daily Beast

And by consumer and supplier agreement, no fact, factoid, or truthiness is too small to register.

From The Daily Beast

McCarthy contributes the factoid, “We have four million more government jobs in America than manufacturing jobs.”

From The Daily Beast