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false

false

155 2.8
Not real and made to trick people
  • adjective
  • /fɔls/
: falso
  • He was arrested for giving a false identity when applying for a loan.
  • a false impression
  • a false name
  • false and misleading

They they used us and the false narrative to push their agendas.

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Examples

  • According to the Canadian government, the vast majority of applications were "false" or "bogus."

    Academic text (2012)
  • Overhyping science discoveries can give people a false sense of how science works.

  • Are you using the Internet to spread false information?

  • Most men carry some form of a false identity.

  • OK, so we arrive at a false statement in this case.

  • It's easier to sit with the uncertainty or the false hope, right?

  • Trump has used Twitter as his platform to disseminate false information, lies, right?

  • And just to remember that that's a false sense of power that's not real.

  • And so all the things that have happened to him from the point that he lied about his name to this point has happened under false pretenses.

  • Rather than behaving out of any sense of moral duty, false claims of benevolence were made from indifference.

    Academic text (1999)

Synonyms

fake
vsfalse
939 1.8

Not real and made to look like something real

is the general idea of being manufactured to deceive or imitate
phony
vsfalse
  • Informal
202 5.3

Trying to seem real to deceive people

covers any case of deliberate non genuineness or imitation
bogus
vsfalse
141 5.6

Fake and made to trick people

is the wider concept of something created to trick or imitate
faux
vsfalse
65 7.5

Not real but made to look like something real to copy it

is the broad notion of deliberate non genuineness or deception
deceptive
vsfalse
59 5.3

Appearing true but making someone believe something that is not true

is about being created to trick or imitate rather than merely causing error
simulated
vsfalse
41 4.4

Made to look like the real thing for practice

focuses more on deliberate tricking or imitation to fool people
fictitious
vsfalse
29 5.1

Not real and made up

involves active deception or imitation, not only invention or imagination
forged
vsfalse
  • NSFW
26 5.1

Made to look real to trick people

covers any deceptive making or imitation, not just copied items
assumed
vsfalse
20 7.4

Used to hide someone's real name, identity or feelings

is the overall state of being made to deceive or imitate
spurious
vsfalse
15 7.9

Not real or true, often made to seem true

stresses making or doing something to deceive or imitate
specious
vsfalse
  • Formal
15 8.7

Appearing true but actually wrong

is the deliberate creation of a non genuine thing to fool others
inauthentic
vsfalse
6 6.6

Not real and not what it looks like

emphasizes the deliberate act of making something seem real to trick
illusive
vsfalse
4 8.2

Appearing real but not actually true

is deliberately made to trick or imitate rather than just appearing unreal
pretended
vsfalse
3 4.7

Made to seem real to trick people

is the general sense of being deliberately not genuine
sham
vsfalse
2 6.8

Not real and made to trick people

is the broader label for being deliberately not genuine or real
fictive
vsfalse
1 8.5

Not real and made up for a story or to hide the truth

focuses on deliberate tricking or imitation rather than mere invention
put-on
vsfalse
  • Informal
1 7.6

Seems real but is actually false

is the general category for things made to deceive or imitate

Antonyms

∞ 1.0

Happening in real life, not imagined

240 2.0

Real and not fake, for example about art or goods

236 3.8

Something that is real and trustworthy, not a fake

Idioms

Pretending to be someone else to trick people

To pretend to be someone else to trick people

Finish in a way that leaves people disappointed or unhappy

Compounds

54 3.5

A warning that something bad is happening when it is not

29 2.8

Asking for an answer of true or false

21 8.2

A crime of lying to get someone's money or things

11 3.9

A made-up name someone uses to hide who they are

false imprisonment
  • Specialized
9 7.3

Keeping someone somewhere against their will when the law does not allow it

8 2.3

Removable fake teeth that people wear in their mouths

A person who on purpose says something untrue in court

7 5.6

An idea that is not true because of wrong thinking or misunderstanding

false equivalence
  • Literature
4 8.6

A claim that treats two very different things as the same

3 5.6

A wrong action or decision that hurts progress

false labor
  • Specialized
3 5.1

Painless tightening of the belly before birth that does not make the baby come

1 8.8

Saying false things in court on purpose after promising to tell the truth

false return
  • Jargon
1 9.1

A tax report that gives untrue information to avoid paying tax

1 7.5

A hidden board in a box or trunk that makes a secret space for hiding things

1 6.9

A wrong sound in music or a remark that spoils the feeling they wanted

1 7.2

A mask worn to hide the face at a costume party

1 8.3

A short sign of hope that later proves disappointing

false pregnancy
  • Specialized
1 5.6

A condition when a woman shows signs like missed periods and feeling sick but no baby inside

1 3.7

Pieces of real or fake strands worn on the head to hide thin spots and change style

false fruit
  • Specialized
1 7.6

A fruit like an apple or pear whose edible part comes from other flower parts

false gavial
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A slender crocodile with a long narrow snout from Southeast Asia

A decision by a jury or judge that is not supported by the facts

false foxglove
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A North American plant with yellow bell-shaped flowers

false return
  • Specialized
1 7.3

A function result of false that shows the action failed

false indigo
  • Specialized
1 8.3

A North American shrub with blue or purple flowers often grown in gardens

false dragonhead
  • Specialized
1 9.3

A garden plant from North America with a tall stem of two-lipped pink or white flowers

false morel
  • Specialized
1 9.2

A poisonous mushroom with a wrinkled honeycomb cap that looks like an edible morel

false hellebore
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A wild plant like a lily that grows every year with large leaves and thick poisonous roots

1 9.3

A plant that looks like a nettle but does not sting

1 9.6

A plant grown for seeds that give oil for food and cosmetics

A plant like a thistle with red or orange flowers whose seeds make an oil used instead of saffron

A small animal like a scorpion but with no tail or stinger

A North American plant that lives for many years with spikes of blue flowers and gray-green leaves

false goatsbeard
  • Specialized
1 8.4

A North American garden plant with clusters of creamy white flowers that grows in moist shade

1 9.9

An evergreen shrub or small tree from tropical America with soft fruit used as natural soap

A plant that has long thin leaves at the base and small white flowers on a stem

A large bat that eats insects at night, not blood

A bat that eats insects instead of drinking blood

A plant with creamy white flowers that grows in meadows and woods

A brown mushroom that looks like a morel and grows under pines in California and can be poisonous

false calyx
  • Specialized
9.3

A group of leaf-like parts under a flower that look like the green outer leaves

A plant with white, pink, or purple flowers like a daisy that blooms in autumn and likes wet ground

A mushroom that looks like the deadly death cap but is usually not poisonous

A North American plant in the mint family with two-lipped pink or white flowers in a spike

A plant from western North America with clumps of low leaves and pale fringed flowers on long stalks

9.9

A small spreading shrub with blue-green leaves and small bell-shaped flowers

A small plant with many tiny white flowers that florists use as bouquet filler

A pale plant like the Indian pipe that gets food from dead matter in forests

A climbing bush from North America with small yellow pods holding bright red seeds

false bracken
  • Australian
9.8

A fern in Queensland with leaves like common bracken

A tree with berries that grows in southeastern United States and Mexico

9.4

A tall plant with large leaves and white summer flowers that grows in eastern United States woods

8.7

A wild plant that looks and smells like garlic but is not used in cooking

false glottis
  • Specialized
9.9

A small opening between the false vocal folds in the voice box

A small woodland plant with loose clusters of white spring flowers that grows in damp woods

8.9

A tall coarse grass like oat that grows by roadsides, in fields, and is used for animal feed

A small plant like a weed with short dry leaves that looks like a pimpernel

9.4

A tall plant that makes a lot of pollen and can cause hay fever or itchy rashes when touched

false gromwell
  • Specialized
9.9

A North American wild plant with hairy leaves and small yellowish or greenish flowers

false heather
  • Specialized
9.2

A low evergreen plant with yellow flowers used as ground cover

7.9

A small plant with white bell-shaped flowers that looks like the true lily of the valley

false lupine
  • Specialized
9.7

A bushy wild plant from the western United States with yellow, pea-shaped flowers that look like lupines

false mallow
  • Specialized
9.9

A plant from the Americas with pink or red flowers and round fruits

false mildew
  • Specialized
8.8

A plant disease caused by a fungus that attacks crops like grapes, potatoes, and melons

false mistletoe
  • Specialized
9.8

American plants that look like mistletoe but are not the true mistletoe

A small plant from eastern North America with thick roots and white flowers tinged pink

9.9

A thin plant that lives many years with small white flowers tinged pink

A large extinct North American cat from millions of years ago with long front teeth like later saber-toothed cats

false vocal cord
  • Specialized
7.8

Upper throat folds that protect the airway but do not make sound

false vocal fold
  • Specialized
8.4

One of two thin pieces of tissue above the voice box that do not make sound

A low evergreen plant with thick, strong leaves and white flowers

false sago
  • Indian
9.5

A cycad plant from southeast India that looks like a palm but is not a true sago

A common plant with fragrant roots used instead of sarsaparilla

How Genuine

fake
939 1.8
false
155 2.8
bogus
141 5.6
sham
  • Offensive
69 6.1

Surface Forms

false positive
falser comparative
falsest superlative

Etymology

False comes from the Latin falsus, from fallere 'to deceive', giving the sense of something made to trick people. That's why a false moustache or a false passport is not real and is meant to deceive.