falsehood

[ fawls-hood ]

noun

1. a false statement; lie.

   Synonyms: falsification, story, fiction, invention, canard, prevarication, fabrication

2. something false; an untrue idea, belief, etc.:

   The Nazis propagated the falsehood of racial superiority.

3. the act of lying or making false statements.
4. lack of conformity to truth or fact.

   Synonyms: untruthfulness, mendacity, inveracity

5. Obsolete. deception.

falsehood

/ ˈfɔːlsˌhʊd /

noun

1. the quality of being untrue
2. an untrue statement; lie
3. the act of deceiving or lying

Word History and Origins

Origin of falsehood¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English falsehead, falshede; false, -hood

Synonym Study

Falsehood, fib, lie, untruth refer to something untrue or incorrect. A falsehood is a statement that distorts or suppresses the truth, in order to deceive: to tell a falsehood about one's ancestry in order to gain acceptance. A fib denotes a trivial falsehood, and is often used to characterize that which is not strictly true: a polite fib. A lie is a vicious falsehood: to tell a lie about one's neighbor. An untruth is an incorrect statement, either intentionally misleading (less harsh, however, than falsehood or lie) or arising from misunderstanding or ignorance: I'm afraid you are telling an untruth.

Example Sentences

Once falsehoods move to encrypted messaging apps like Telegram and WhatsApp, it becomes significantly harder to monitor and put a stop them.

From Washington Post

Every falsehood eventually comes back to haunt Carlson, a fellow who pontificates every night on the country’s affairs.

From Washington Post

Were she president, one assumes that Rubio would strongly advocate robust coverage of her falsehoods and an exploration of conspiracy theories she might offer that could lead to dangerous situations.

From Washington Post

Such falsehoods will be a major impediment to the vaccine campaign.

From Washington Post

Advocacy groups push for Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resignation over report that she spread falsehoods about school shootingsOn Tuesday, CNN’s KFile published the findings of its review of hundreds of posts and comments on Greene’s Facebook page.

From Washington Post

In our digital world falsehood flies first class via hyperlinks, Tweets, texts, and The View.

From The Daily Beast

Instead, Clapper responded with an egregious falsehood, if not an outright lie.

From The Daily Beast

But later that day, NBC, CBS, and the Los Angeles Times all reported the same “falsehood,” also citing law-enforcement sources.

From The Daily Beast

But no matter, because journalists and partisans—and even The Onion—jumped on the Post for reporting a “total falsehood.”

From The Daily Beast

Presented with such a beautiful falsehood, the rest of humanity gratefully embraced the illusion.

From The Daily Beast

For her to testify that she did not love—and had never loved Jean Baptiste, he knew would be a deliberate falsehood.

From Project Gutenberg

In the ordinary compliments of civilized life, there is no intention to deceive, and consequently no falsehood.

From Project Gutenberg

This thing called Secession originated in falsehood, theft and perjury.

From Project Gutenberg

Then after he had encouraged them, he shewed withal the falsehood of the Gentiles, and their breach of oaths.

From Project Gutenberg

If he finds no out-of-the-way truths, he will identify himself with no very burning falsehood.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cover-up
• deceit
• deception
• dishonesty
• distortion
• fabrication
• fakery
• fallacy
• falsity
• misstatement
• perjury
• prevarication
• sham
• tall tale
• untruth