false

Formsfalser, falsest

Formsfalses, falsing, falsed

1. 1
   untrue (statement)adjective

   Untrue; not in agreement with the established facts.

   The witness's claim proved entirely false under cross-examination.

   Several figures in the published report were later shown to be false.

   UsageClaims and statements are false; a mistaken answer or choice is usually wrong: the wrong answer.

   Similaruntrue, incorrect, inaccurate, wrong, erroneous

   Oppositetrue, correct, accurate, factual

   Note

   At root, a false statement was a deceiving one. Today this sense needs no deceiver, and an honest mistake is just as false. An early technical use appears in Robert Recorde's The Pathway to Knowledge (1551), which already speaks of "the rule of false position."

2. 2
   adjective

   Artificial, fake, or not the real or permanent thing, made to imitate or stand in for it, as in false teeth or a false ceiling.

   The antique cabinet hid valuables behind a false panel.

   The actor's false beard looked surprisingly convincing on stage.

   Similarartificial, fake, mock, sham

   Oppositereal, genuine, natural, authentic

   Note

   Here the fakery is in the thing itself: false teeth and false panels stand in for the real article. The word stretches to manner as well, as in the false modesty Robert W. Chambers describes in The Younger Set (1907), a show of humility that is not genuine. It says what a thing is rather than accusing anyone of lying, which is the business of the "deceitful" meaning. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • Robert W. Chambers wrote The Younger Set. gutenberg.org
   • The Younger Set was first published in 1907. gutenberg.org
   • The novel's narration describes false modesty as a condescending display of humility. gutenberg.org
3. 3
   adjective

   Mistaken, unfounded, or based on wrong assumptions; giving a misleading or unreliable impression, as in 'a false sense of security'.

   The new alarm system gave residents a false sense of security.

   Investors clung to false hopes long after the company began to fail.

   UsageCommon in a false sense of security, false hopes and a false premise.

   Similarmistaken, misleading, unfounded, groundless, illusory

   Oppositetrue, real, genuine, accurate

   Note

   The weakness lies in what something rests on, not in a lie. Spenser's The Faerie Queene (1590) makes the image literal with a cliff "whose false foundation waves have washed away." Modern use keeps that idea of unsound support: a false conclusion or a false sense of security looks solid and gives way. It can also fault the starting facts themselves, as in a false premise. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • Edmund Spenser wrote The Faerie Queene. en.wikisource.org
   • The Faerie Queene was first published in 1590, initially comprising Books I–III. en.wikisource.org
   • The poem describes a cliff with the quoted false foundation; the wording is confirmed in modernized spelling. gutenberg.org
4. 4
   logic valueadjective

   In Boolean logic, denoting the truth value that represents a negative or untrue result.

   Like answering 'no' to a yes-or-no question.

   The condition evaluates to false when the input list is empty.

   A logical AND returns false if either operand is false.

   UsageOften after a verb: a condition evaluates to false, a test returns false.

   Oppositetrue

   Note

   Logic treats it as a value rather than a judgment. It is one of the two Boolean states, paired with true. Here nothing is lied about or mistaken; a value is simply produced. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • False is a Boolean truth value, one of two values paired with true. docs.python.org
5. 5
   test answernoununcountable

   On a true-or-false test, the option indicating that a statement is not correct.

   On the quiz, the correct response to that item was false, not true.

   The student marked false for every statement she doubted.

   Oppositetrue

6. 6
   adjective

   Of a person: dishonest, deceitful, or disloyal; not true to one's word, friends, or obligations.

   She thought he was a loyal friend, but he proved false the moment money was involved.

   A false witness can ruin the life of an innocent person.

   UsageOften in prove false, be false to someone, or a false friend.

   Similardisloyal, treacherous, faithless, deceitful, dishonest

   Oppositeloyal, faithful, true, honest

7. 7
   species nameadjective

   Forming part of a species' common name to mark it as resembling, but not actually being, the species it is named after.

   The false morel mimics the edible true morel but carries a dangerous toxin.

   False indigo earned its name as a weaker stand-in for the plant that gives true indigo dye.

   UsageIt goes before the borrowed name: false morel, false indigo. Some names use a hyphen, as in false-cypress.

   Oppositetrue

   Note

   Naturalists' shorthand for a lookalike. The name says what the creature resembles and, in the same breath, that it is something else. A false scorpion is an arachnid but not a scorpion, and a false killer whale is a dolphin. The likeness can be close kin: false powderpost beetles belong to the same family as the true ones. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • False scorpions are arachnids. en.wikipedia.org
   • False scorpions are not true scorpions. museum.wa.gov.au
   • The false killer whale is a dolphin. fisheries.noaa.gov
   • False and true powderpost beetles belong to the same family, Bostrichidae. ask.ifas.ufl.edu

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