falsehood
noun
false·hood ˈfȯls-ˌhu̇d 
1
: an untrue statement : lie
2
: absence of truth or accuracy
3
: the practice of lying : mendacity
Synonyms
- delusion
- error
- fallacy
- falsity
- hallucination
- illusion
- misbelief
- misconception
- myth
- old wives' tale
- untruth
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
the line between truth and falsehood the possibility of a perpetual motion machine is one falsehood that has been disproved by modern physics
Recent Examples on the Web Yet Adler, not unlike others, left his mark on that falsehood. 
Cynthia Ozick, The Atlantic, 3 Aug. 2022 Stock market sayings often have a core of wisdom – and sometimes a grain of falsehood. John Dorfman, Forbes, 8 Aug. 2022 Joe Biden’s dark fairy tale about the country returning to Jim Crow is not merely an egregious political falsehood. Gerard Baker, WSJ, 24 Jan. 2022 Another myth is that all chickens have salmonella, a falsehood that prompts people to feed the animals antibiotics. Kate Gibson, CBS News, 10 June 2022 When McCarthy declared the story a falsehood of the liberal media, the authors produced an audio recording to confirm its accuracy. George Packer, The Atlantic, 18 May 2022 Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation administrator Walter Gómez and accountant Marcos Fletes were each sentenced to 13 years in prison for the same crimes, in addition to abusive management and ideological falsehood, according to CENIDH. Jorge Engels, Mario Medrano And Bertha Ramos, CNN, 22 Mar. 2022 The attorney also sought to hold people criminally accountable, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, and brought up several conspiracy theories, Johnson did not directly push back at the vaccine falsehood. Bill Glauber, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 5 May 2022 Supporters of Trump, backed by an online army, pushed the falsehood that the election was stolen. Washington Post, 21 Apr. 2022 See More
Cynthia Ozick, The Atlantic, 3 Aug. 2022 Stock market sayings often have a core of wisdom – and sometimes a grain of falsehood. John Dorfman, Forbes, 8 Aug. 2022 Joe Biden’s dark fairy tale about the country returning to Jim Crow is not merely an egregious political falsehood. Gerard Baker, WSJ, 24 Jan. 2022 Another myth is that all chickens have salmonella, a falsehood that prompts people to feed the animals antibiotics. Kate Gibson, CBS News, 10 June 2022 When McCarthy declared the story a falsehood of the liberal media, the authors produced an audio recording to confirm its accuracy. George Packer, The Atlantic, 18 May 2022 Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation administrator Walter Gómez and accountant Marcos Fletes were each sentenced to 13 years in prison for the same crimes, in addition to abusive management and ideological falsehood, according to CENIDH. Jorge Engels, Mario Medrano And Bertha Ramos, CNN, 22 Mar. 2022 The attorney also sought to hold people criminally accountable, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, and brought up several conspiracy theories, Johnson did not directly push back at the vaccine falsehood. Bill Glauber, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 5 May 2022 Supporters of Trump, backed by an online army, pushed the falsehood that the election was stolen. Washington Post, 21 Apr. 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Kids Definition
falsehood
noun
false·hood ˈfȯls-ˌhu̇d
1
: lie entry 3
2
: the habit of lying
His falsehood ruined our friendship.
falsehood
noun
1
as in delusion
a false idea or belief the possibility of a perpetual motion machine is one falsehood that has been disproved by modern physics Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- delusion
- myth
- error
- illusion
- untruth
- superstition
- falsity
- misconception
- fallacy
- misunderstanding
- misbelief
- hallucination
- lie
- distortion
- misrepresentation
- fiction
- pretense
- misinformation
- tale
- old wives' tale
- inaccuracy
- misinterpretation
- misstatement
- miscomprehension
- misperception
- sophism
- factoid
- misapprehension
- sophistry
- misjudgment
- fib
- pretence
- half-truth
- misreport
- story
- misknowledge
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- truth
- verity
2
as in lie
a statement known by its maker to be untrue and made in order to deceive several falsehoods in the witness's testimony that may be grounds for perjury Synonyms & Similar Words
- lie
- tale
- story
- untruth
- falsity
- prevarication
- mendacity
- fib
- fable
- fabrication
- fairy tale
- whopper
- distortion
- exaggeration
- ambiguity
- taradiddle
- fiction
- tarradiddle
- slander
- defamation
- fraudulence
- libel
- half-truth
- deceit
- misrepresentation
- perjury
- nonsense
- equivocation
- myth
- misinformation
- misconception
- obliquity
- fallacy
- misstatement
- falsification
- dishonesty
- duplicity
- bluff
- deceitfulness
- canard
- pretense
- humbug
- pose
- pretence
- jive
- misreport
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- truth
- fact
- truthfulness
- honesty
- truism
- veracity
- verification
- confirmation
- verity
- validation
- authentication
- substantiation
3
as in deception
the quality or state of being false scientists eventually demonstrated the falsehood of the claim that prehistoric fish did not evolve lungs and legs Synonyms & Similar Words
- deception
- untruth
- falseness
- deceptiveness
- fallacy
- falsity
- delusion
- erroneousness
- fallaciousness
- spuriousness
- untruthfulness
- dishonesty
- speciousness
- inaccuracy
- mendacity
- incorrectness
- mendaciousness
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- truth
- verity
- accuracy
- correctness
- truthfulness
- actuality
- genuineness
- credibility
- factualness
- honesty
- factuality
- veracity
- trustworthiness
4
as in deceit
the tendency to tell lies a cynic who believes that politics are a veritable fount of falsehood Synonyms & Similar Words
- deceit
- deceitfulness
- untruthfulness
- dishonesty
- mendacity
- mendaciousness
- falseness
- duplicity
- insincerity
- fakery
- dissimulation
- hypocrisy
- crookedness
- dissembling
- cunning
- guile
- craftiness
- double-dealing
- wiliness
- trickishness
- artifice
- guilefulness
- craft
- foxiness
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- truthfulness
- honesty
- integrity
- veracity
- verity
- sincerity
- probity
- frankness
- honor
- incorruptibility
- accuracy
- candor
- reliability
- objectivity
- trustworthiness
- straightforwardness
- correctness
- dependability
- credibility
- genuineness
- authenticity
- veraciousness
- candidness
- good faith
- reliableness
- plainspokenness