falsehood

falsehood
/fawls"hood/, n.
1. a false statement; lie.
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.
5. Obs. deception.
[1250-1300; ME falshede. See FALSE, -HOOD]
Syn. 1. 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. 3. untruthfulness, inveracity, mendacity.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • falsehood — falsehood, falseness, falsity The three words, all to do with departure from the truth or what is true, have a considerable overlap in meaning and are sometimes interchangeable. Falsehood is the intentional telling of an untruth, and a falsehood… …   Modern English usage

  • Falsehood — False hood, n. [False + hood] 1. Want of truth or accuracy; an untrue assertion or representation; error; misrepresentation; falsity. [1913 Webster] Though it be a lie in the clock, it is but a falsehood in the hand of the dial when pointing at a …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • falsehood — I noun canard, commentum, deception, dissimulation, distortion, distortion of truth, equivocation, evasion, fabrication, false assertion, false statement, falsification, falsity, falsum, fiction, flam, fraud, fraudulence, inaccuracy, intentional… …   Law dictionary

  • falsehood — late 13c., falshede, deceitfulness, also a lie, from FALSE (Cf. false) + HOOD (Cf. hood) …   Etymology dictionary

  • falsehood — untruth, *lie, fib, misrepresentation, story Antonyms: truth (in concrete sense) …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • falsehood — [n] lie canard, cover up, deceit, deception, dishonesty, dissimulation, distortion, equivocation, erroneousness, error, fable, fabrication, fakery, fallaciousness, fallacy, falseness, falsity, feigning, fib, fibbery, fiction, figment, fraud, half …   New thesaurus

  • falsehood — ► NOUN 1) the state of being untrue. 2) a lie …   English terms dictionary

  • falsehood — [fôls′hood΄] n. [ME falshod: see FALSE & HOOD] 1. lack of accuracy or truth; falsity; deception 2. the telling of lies; lying 3. a false statement; lie 4. a false belief, theory, idea, etc …   English World dictionary

  • Falsehood — (Roget s Thesaurus) < N PARAG:Falsehood >N GRP: N 1 Sgm: N 1 falsehood falsehood falseness Sgm: N 1 falsity falsity falsification Sgm: N 1 deception deception &c. 545 Sgm: N 1 untruth untruth &c. 546 Sgm …   English dictionary for students

  • falsehood — The OT Decalogue does not contain any prohibition of lying but there are many terms in which the evils of falsehood are denounced. It is a power of sheol, the infernal world (Isa. 28:15) and it is especially represented by idolatry (Jer. 10:14)… …   Dictionary of the Bible

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