falsehood

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noun false·hood \ ˈfȯls-ˌhu̇d \

Definition of falsehood

1 :an untrue statement :lie

2 :absence of truth or accuracy

3 :the practice of lying :mendacity

See falsehood defined for English-language learners

See falsehood defined for kids

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 of falsehood from the Web

The case is one only a president can make, and this president has a deserved reputation for falsehood.

— eliot a. cohen, The Atlantic, "America Is Not Ready for a War in North Korea," 9 Aug. 2017
Every ticket is verified on a computer and photos are attached, so when TripAdvisor.com lights up with a fiery review, the butlers are able to provide evidence to dispel any falsehoods.

— jaclyn gallucci, Fortune, "12 Shocking Things I Learned by Working as a Butler at the Plaza Hotel," 8 Aug. 2017
Outside of Trump ignoring political protocol again, the last two are petty, even superficial falsehoods.

— sean mesidor, Essence.com, "Donald Trump Lies About A Lot Of Things, But This One Went Too Far," 4 Aug. 2017
But might reporting on his falsehoods be at least impacting some independents, the very group that tends to have lower levels of political information than partisans?

— vanityfair.com, "Will Trump’s Fans Care He Lied About the Times?," 24 July 2017
A less consequential falsehood is that technology means children do not need to learn facts or learn from a teacher—instead they can just use Google.

— The Economist, "Education technologyTogether, technology and teachers can revamp schools," 22 July 2017
A less consequential falsehood is that technology means children do not need to learn facts or learn from a teacher—

— The Economist, "Education technologyTogether, technology and teachers can revamp schools," 22 July 2017
Defamation is recognised almost everywhere as grounds for a civil claim, in which subjects of wanton and damaging falsehoods can demand financial compensation.

— The Economist, "Don’t say a wordHow powerful people use criminal-defamation laws to silence their critics," 13 July 2017
A new study reveals the mathematics underlying this phenomenon, modeling how information overload can erode an individual's ability to distinguish high-quality information from its opposite, causing falsehoods to propagate.

— eoin o'carroll, The Christian Science Monitor, "How information overload helps spread fake news," 27 June 2017

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.