falsehood

noun

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false·hood | \ ˈfȯls-ˌhu̇d

Definition of falsehood

1 : an untrue statement : lie

2 : absence of truth or accuracy

3 : the practice of lying : mendacity

Synonyms & Antonyms Example Sentences Learn More about falsehood

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Examples of falsehood in a Sentence

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 Herrera Beutler, who voted to impeach Trump in January, said McCarthy had shared details of the call with her, including that Trump had initially repeated the falsehood that antifa activists were the ones attacking the Capitol. — Dustin Gardiner, San Francisco Chronicle, "How Kevin McCarthy's phone call to Trump nearly derailed impeachment trial," 13 Feb. 2021 Ekman does not believe that such discrepancies are proof of falsehood. — Christiane Gelitz, Scientific American, "Humans Are Pretty Lousy Lie Detectors," 9 Feb. 2021 The other witnesses in Michigan tried to channel a grand falsehood into the language of officialdom. — New York Times, "The Tactic of Our Time: Sound Urgent, Be Incomprehensible," 17 Dec. 2020 There were also 250 unpublished manuscripts, 38 writer’s notebooks and 8,000 pages of journal entries that turned out to be a confounding blend of fact and falsehood. — Anna Mundow, WSJ, "‘Devils, Lusts & Strange Desires’ Review: The Elusive Patricia Highsmith," 15 Jan. 2021 Waving a flag in one hand, a testament in the other, only to be amplified by a histrionic media disseminating more falsehood than fact. — Washington Post, "Readers write to Kamala Harris ahead of the inauguration," 14 Jan. 2021 Trump’s troubling mental state and habitual mendacity may well have coalesced and crescendoed to erode any discernible boundary between falsehood and delusion. — Jeannie Suk Gersen, The New Yorker, "How Congressional Republicans Could Sabotage the Counting of Electoral Votes," 4 Jan. 2021 QAnon also amplified the falsehood that Dominion Voting Systems, an election-software company, switched millions of votes from President Trump to President-elect Joe Biden. — Rob Kuznia, CNN, "How Qanon's lies are hijacking the national conversation," 15 Dec. 2020 That these lawmakers lent credence to a dangerous falsehood didn’t seem to concern them. — William A. Galston, WSJ, "Institutions Saved the 2020 Election," 15 Dec. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'falsehood.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.