untruth

American

[uhn-trooth] / ʌnˈtruθ /

noun

plural

untruths

the state or character of being untrue.
want of veracity; divergence from truth.
something untrue; a falsehood or lie.

Synonyms:

invention, fabrication, tale, story, fiction
Archaic. unfaithfulness; disloyalty.

untruth British

/ ʌnˈtruːθ /

noun

the state or quality of being untrue
a statement, fact, etc, that is not true

"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

Related Words

See falsehood.

Etymology

Origin of untruth

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English untrēowth: 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.

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

There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.

From "1984" by George Orwell

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023