disinformation

noun

dis·​in·​for·​ma·​tion (ˌ)dis-ˌin-fər-ˈmā-shən How to pronounce disinformation (audio)
: false information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth

Examples of disinformation in a Sentence

The government used disinformation to gain support for the policy.
Recent Examples on the Web Monitoring the posts of the more than 4,000 cadets aligns with efforts elsewhere to screen disinformation and hate speech; other universities plus police agencies and many employers make comparable efforts. Will Carless, USA TODAY, 22 Mar. 2024 Although experts have touted positive uses for AI, many worry about potentially disastrous consequences including security risks, unmitigated spread of disinformation and even human extinction. Krystal Hur, CNN, 21 Mar. 2024 Becker and the study’s authors said early voting serves as a tool against disinformation about candidates and how to vote, among other benefits. Benjamin Oreskes, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2024 In recent months, Musk has repeatedly endorsed racist conspiracies like the great replacement theory and has engaged with numerous accounts spreading disinformation and hate speech. David Gilbert, WIRED, 20 Mar. 2024 The outcome could have sweeping implications for the U.S. government’s efforts to combat foreign disinformation during a critical election year when nearly half of the world’s population will go to the polls. Cat Zakrzewski, Washington Post, 18 Mar. 2024 But David Greene, civil liberties director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said U.S. officials will not lose their ability to combat misinformation or disinformation. Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 16 Mar. 2024 This film brought that process to life and the parents were really up for that because a big part of it to the parents was not just trying to hold Alex Jones to account, but also challenging that whole culture of disinformation and telling of lies. Addie Morfoot, Variety, 11 Mar. 2024 The goal instead is to lend an aura of credibility to posts on social media spreading the disinformation. Steven Lee Myers, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'disinformation.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

dis- + information, after Russian dezinformácija

Note: Russian dezinformácija and the adjective derivative dezinformaciónnyj can be found in Soviet military science journals published during the 1930's. The Malaja Sovetskaja Ènciklopedija (1930-38) defines the word as "information known to be false that is surreptitiously passed to an enemy" ("dezinformacija, t.e., zavedomo lživaja informacija podkidyvaemaja protivniku"; vol. 3, p. 585). The verb dezinformírovat' "to knowingly misinform" is attested earlier, no later than 1925, and may have been the basis for the noun. In more recent decades claims have been made about the origin of the word that are dubious and cannot be substantiated. According to the former Romanian intelligence officer Ion Mihai Pacepa, "Iosif Stalin invented this secret 'science,' giving it a French-sounding name and pretending it was a dirty Western practice" (Ion Mihai Pacepa and Ronald J. Rychlak, Disinformation [Washington, D.C., 2013], p. 4). Martin J. Manning, in Historical Dictionary of American Propaganda (Westport, CT, 2004), pushes the word back still further: "Disinformation as a KGB weapon began in 1923 when I.S. Unshlikht, Deputy Chairman of the GPU, then the name of the KGB, proposed the establishment of a 'special disinformation office to conduct active intelligence operations ….' " No source is given for this quotation. The English word disinformation as a translation of the Russian one appears to have been introduced in an article written for the Saturday Evening Post under the byline of Walter Krivitsky, a Soviet intelligence officer who defected in the fall of 1937 and made his way to the U.S. in November, 1938. Krivitsky, in need of money, was aided in publishing a series of Saturday Evening Post articles by the journalist Isaac Don Levine and the socialist politician and historian David Shub. (The articles became the contents of a book, In Stalin's Secret Service, published in November, 1939.) More than simply aiding him, Shub and Levine presumably acted as translators and editors, seeing that Krivitsky most likely knew little or no English. He introduces the word disinformation after reporting a boast by a German that the Red Army was infiltrated by spies; Krivitsky rejoins in the first person: "I knew only too well the character of such evidence … it was the type of information designed especially for wide circulation, with the view toward undermining the morale of the enemy. In military-intelligence parlance, it is known as 'disinformation' " (Saturday Evening Post, April 22, 1939, p. 74).

First Known Use

1939, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of disinformation was in 1939

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Dictionary Entries Near disinformation

Cite this Entry

“Disinformation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disinformation. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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