Synonyms of falsehood

falsehood

noun

ˈfȯls-ˌhu̇d 

1

as in delusion

a false idea or belief

the possibility of a perpetual motion machine is one falsehood that has been disproved by modern physics

Synonyms & Similar Words

• delusion
• myth
• error
• illusion
• superstition
• untruth
• misconception
• fallacy
• misunderstanding
• falsity
• misbelief
• hallucination
• lie
• distortion
• fiction
• pretense
• old wives' tale
• misrepresentation
• tale
• misinformation
• inaccuracy
• misinterpretation
• misstatement
• factoid
• misperception
• miscomprehension
• misapprehension
• misjudgment
• sophism
• half-truth
• sophistry
• story
• fib
• misreport
• misknowledge

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• truth
• verity

2

as in lie

a statement known by its maker to be untrue and made in order to deceive

several falsehoods in the witness's testimony that may be grounds for perjury

Synonyms & Similar Words

• lie
• tale
• story
• untruth
• falsity
• mendacity
• fabrication
• fable
• fairy tale
• prevarication
• fib
• distortion
• ambiguity
• exaggeration
• whopper
• fiction
• taradiddle
• defamation
• slander
• libel
• half-truth
• deceit
• fraudulence
• perjury
• nonsense
• misrepresentation
• equivocation
• obliquity
• myth
• misconception
• misinformation
• fallacy
• bluff
• misstatement
• falsification
• dishonesty
• duplicity
• pose
• pretense
• canard
• humbug
• deceitfulness
• jive
• misreport

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• truth
• fact
• truthfulness
• honesty
• truism
• veracity
• verification
• confirmation
• validation
• verity
• authentication
• substantiation

3

as in deception

the quality or state of being false

scientists eventually demonstrated the falsehood of the claim that prehistoric fish did not evolve lungs and legs

Synonyms & Similar Words

• deception
• falseness
• deceptiveness
• untruth
• fallacy
• delusion
• falsity
• erroneousness
• fallaciousness
• spuriousness
• inaccuracy
• speciousness
• dishonesty
• untruthfulness
• incorrectness
• mendacity
• mendaciousness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• truth
• verity
• accuracy
• correctness
• genuineness
• actuality
• truthfulness
• credibility
• honesty
• trustworthiness
• veracity
• factuality
• factualness

4

as in deceit

the tendency to tell lies

a cynic who believes that politics are a veritable fount of falsehood

Synonyms & Similar Words

• deceit
• deceitfulness
• untruthfulness
• dishonesty
• mendacity
• mendaciousness
• falseness
• duplicity
• insincerity
• fakery
• crookedness
• cunning
• dissimulation
• hypocrisy
• dissembling
• double-dealing
• guile
• craftiness
• wiliness
• artifice
• trickishness
• craft
• guilefulness
• foxiness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• truthfulness
• integrity
• honesty
• veracity
• verity
• sincerity
• honor
• good faith
• probity
• frankness
• reliability
• accuracy
• candor
• objectivity
• trustworthiness
• straightforwardness
• dependability
• incorruptibility
• correctness
• veraciousness
• authenticity
• credibility
• genuineness
• candidness
• plainspokenness
• reliableness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of falsehood

But of the many falsehoods told by them, there was one which quite amazed me. — Agnes Callard, The New York Review of Books, 18 Aug. 2026

In a June poll, KFF asked whether respondents believed in four vaccine falsehoods. — Katrine Wallace, STAT, 11 Aug. 2026

Among the more egregious falsehoods was the one McDonnell had told many people about her younger sister, Holly. — Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 11 Aug. 2026

Defense attorneys also should not be able to reference the felony charges dismissed after video showed agents’ falsehoods. — Julia Coin, Charlotte Observer, 1 Aug. 2026