misinformation

noun

mis·​in·​for·​ma·​tion ˌmis-ˌin-fər-ˈmā-shən 

: incorrect or misleading information

Indubitably, a great deal of paranoid and otherwise irresponsible misinformation about the Kennedy assassination has traveled far and sold well …

—Ronnie Dugger

A muddle of misinformation keeps clouding the debate over hormone-replacement therapy for women.

—Melinda Beck

Each of these pieces of information (and misinformation) about me is sold for about two-fifths of a cent to advertisers, which then deliver me an Internet ad, send me a catalog or mail me a credit-card offer.

—Joel Stein

Examples of misinformation in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Even staunch opponents of medical misinformation found the bill a flawed weapon in the fight against falsehoods. —Corinne Purtill, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2023

And unlike nuclear, which has seen a dramatic surge in support from the center and right wing in recent years, offshore wind is currently the target of a massive misinformation campaign. —Molly Taft, The New Republic, 8 Sep. 2023

Those disagreements flared during the pandemic, when even basic health information became a target for skepticism or misinformation. —Lindsay Gellman, STAT, 8 Sep. 2023

Two new reports out this week show that nation-states are also likely rushing to adapt the same technology into weapons of misinformation, in what could become a troubling AI arms race between great powers. —Will Knight, WIRED, 7 Sep. 2023

The United States, for example, has often been less willing to publicize or publicly engage on questions about UFOs — even going so far to spread misinformation in the 1950s — for fear of ceding a strategic advantage to adversaries and jeopardizing national security. —Terrence McCoy, Washington Post, 6 Sep. 2023

There are many videos where people profess the benefits of consuming and/or bathing in borax — while others attempt to debunk the misinformation. —Allison Futterman, Discover Magazine, 4 Sep. 2023

Then, Bash had to go into a break, leaving Ramaswamy’s smug gotcha reply–and misinformation–unchallenged. —Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 31 Aug. 2023

Julie Millican, vice president of Media Matters, a nonprofit dedicated to monitoring far-right misinformation, believes YouTube deserves credit for improving its algorithms to better limit the proliferation of extremist content. —Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 30 Aug. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

1605, in the meaning defined above