false

adjective

\ ˈfȯls

falser; falsest

Definition of false

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : not genuine false documents false teeth

2a : intentionally untrue false testimony

b : adjusted or made so as to deceive false scales a trunk with a false bottom

c : intended or tending to mislead a false promise

3 : not true false concepts

4a : not faithful or loyal : treacherous a false friend

b : lacking naturalness or sincerity false sympathy

5a : not essential or permanent —used of parts of a structure that are temporary or supplemental

b : fitting over a main part to strengthen it, to protect it, or to disguise its appearance a false ceiling

6 : inaccurate in pitch a false note

7a : based on mistaken ideas false pride

b : inconsistent with the facts a false position a false sense of security

8 : threateningly sudden or deceptive don't make any false moves

false

adverb

Definition of false (Entry 2 of 2)

: in a false or faithless manner : treacherously his friends played him false

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Choose the Right Synonym for false

Adjective

faithless, false, disloyal, traitorous, treacherous, perfidious mean untrue to what should command one's fidelity or allegiance. faithless applies to any failure to keep a promise or pledge or any breach of allegiance or loyalty. faithless allies false stresses the fact of failing to be true in any manner ranging from fickleness to cold treachery. betrayed by false friends disloyal implies a lack of complete faithfulness to a friend, cause, leader, or country. disloyal to their country traitorous implies either actual treason or a serious betrayal of trust. traitorous acts punishable by death treacherous implies readiness to betray trust or confidence. a treacherous adviser perfidious adds to faithless the implication of an incapacity for fidelity or reliability. a perfidious double-crosser

Examples of false in a Sentence

Adjective

Indicate whether each of the following statements is true or false. He registered at the hotel under a false name.

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

In January, a 2015 tweet from Nick Vallelonga resurfaced in which the writer expressed a false and Islamophobic view about Muslims' reactions to 9/11. — Emma Dibdin, Harper's BAZAAR, "Green Book Won Best Picture and Twitter Is Not Happy," 25 Feb. 2019 While the idea of girls asking guys is incredibly heteronormative, the whole concept that there are only people who identify as either girls or boys is entirely false and harmful. — Carolyn Twersky, Seventeen, "What Even is a Sadie Hawkins Dance and Where Did It Come From?," 14 Feb. 2019 Noteworthy stat: the fact-checkers have collectively branded at least 30,000 links as false over the past two years. — Casey Newton, The Verge, "22 predictions for social media in 2019," 15 Dec. 2018 Through the sacrifice of untold masses of grapes (and 12 microwaves), the researchers showed that this hypothesis—which had never been explained mathematically anyway—was false. — Jacqueline Detwiler, Popular Mechanics, "Scientists Finally Figured Out Why Grapes Spark in the Microwave," 19 Feb. 2019 Some of its details are misrepresented; some are exaggerated; some are outright false. — Erica Gonzales, Harper's BAZAAR, "Mandy Moore Says Ryan Adams' "Controlling Behavior" Took a Toll on Her Music Career," 14 Feb. 2019 Previously, the site reported on rumors about former President Barack Obama that were shown to be false. — Jonathan Drew, The Seattle Times, "Person upset by abortion stance tipped site to racist photo," 4 Feb. 2019 As the Washington Post noted last December, the president has made over 7,500 false claims during the first 710 days of his presidency. — Sean Illing, Vox, "How the media should respond to Trump’s lies: State of the Union edition," 5 Feb. 2019 The Morning Consult/Hollywood Reporter survey also found large majorities who were concerned about harassment and assault in the workplace as well as large majorities concerned about false claims of harassment and assault in the workplace. — James Freeman, WSJ, "Are Gillette’s Customers More Toxic than its Management?," 15 Jan. 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Adverb

Any assertion otherwise on the latter front rings false given that, as acting commissioner, Selig had to have known about the FBI’s Operation Equine, an early ’90s investigation into PED distribution that included McGwire and Canseco. — Jay Jaffe, SI.com, "Roger Clemens, Arguably the Greatest Pitcher of All-Time, Is Trending Toward Hall of Fame Induction," 13 Dec. 2017

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