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false

false

2 6.1
Not in tune with the other notes
  • adjective
  • /fɔls/
translation icon : desentonado
  • The choir's harmony was disrupted by a false note from one of the singers.

But it's always like it's so well curated and I've, you know, I have yet to see somebody that strikes a false note.

Examples

  • During the performance, she hit a false note that made the audience cringe.

  • In order not to sound false, writers must keep a delicate balance between the narrator's and the character's discourse.

    Academic text (2001)
  • I was sorry to hear a false note in Olga's voice.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • If you put them in at the wrong time, they're going to strike a false note.

    Blog text (16)
  • This doesn't really accomplish anything... but gives you the false sense that we're engaged with you.

  • Owen Wilson's accent here rings somewhat false, and yet his earnest gentleness keeps it from veering into Foghorn Leghorn territory.

    Blog text (14)
  • The musician was embarrassed when he played a false note during the concert.

Synonyms

out of tune
vsfalse
12 3.3

Notes are at the wrong pitch so a piano or violin sounds bad

is the general term for any inexact musical pitch
off-key
vsfalse
12 4.5

A voice or instrument that sounds in the wrong pitch

is the broad concept of inaccurate musical pitch
sour
vsfalse
4 6.5

Not in tune and sounding wrong

focuses on pitch inaccuracy in general rather than other qualities
out of key
vsfalse
1 5.8

Not singing or playing the right musical notes

is the general idea of pitch being inaccurate or wrong
unsharp
vsfalse
  • Specialized
7.9

Slightly lower in pitch than the correct note

is the broader idea of any inaccurate musical pitch
flattish
vsfalse
4.6

Slightly lower in pitch than it should be

covers any degree of pitch inaccuracy rather than only slight cases
unattuned
vsfalse
7.5

Not tuned to the correct musical pitch

refers specifically to pitch inaccuracy rather than lack of harmony

Antonyms

31 3.7

Agreeing and working well with other people or ideas

Idioms

Pretending to be someone else to trick people

Finish in a way that leaves people disappointed or unhappy

To pretend to be someone else to trick people

Compounds

23 3.5

A warning that something bad is happening when it is not

9 3.9

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

false imprisonment
  • Specialized
8 7.3

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

7 8.2

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

A person who on purpose says something untrue in court

6 2.3

Removable fake teeth that people wear in their mouths

4 8.8

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

3 5.6

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

3 7.5

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

false labor
  • Specialized
3 5.1

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

false equivalence
  • Literature
2 8.6

A claim that treats two very different things as the same

2 5.6

A wrong action or decision that hurts progress

1 7.2

A mask worn to hide the face at a costume party

1 6.9

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

1 2.8

Asking for an answer of true or false

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

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

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

9.9

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

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

false dragonhead
  • Specialized
9.3

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

9.6

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

false foxglove
  • Specialized
9.9

A North American plant with yellow bell-shaped flowers

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

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

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

false fruit
  • Specialized
7.6

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

8.7

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

false gavial
  • Specialized
9.9

A slender crocodile with a long narrow snout from Southeast Asia

false glottis
  • Specialized
9.9

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

false goatsbeard
  • Specialized
8.4

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

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

false morel
  • Specialized
9.2

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

A plant that looks like a nettle but does not sting

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 return
  • Jargon
9.1

A tax report that gives untrue information to avoid paying tax

false gromwell
  • Specialized
9.9

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

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

false heather
  • Specialized
9.2

A low evergreen plant with yellow flowers used as ground cover

false hellebore
  • Specialized
9.9

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

false indigo
  • Specialized
8.3

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

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

false return
  • Specialized
7.3

A function result of false that shows the action failed

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

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

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

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

false smut
  • Specialized
9.9

A disease of rice that covers the grains with a green powder of fungus spores

A shrub with feathery leaves that grows in dry places in Eurasia

A yellow stone that looks like topaz but is not true topaz

An underground fungus that looks like a real truffle but is a different kind

How In Tune

in tune
31 3.7
false
2 6.1

Surface Forms

false positive

Etymology

False comes from the Latin falsus, from fallere 'to deceive', and here it keeps the idea of 'not true'. So a false note is one that is not the true pitch and sounds out of tune.