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Glite Dictionary
to lack truthiness

to lack truthiness

9.7
To seem not true or honest even when it sounds convincing
  • phrasal verb
  • US
translation icon : carecer de veracidad
  • Even though his claims were persuasive, they lacked truthiness because no evidence supported them.

Examples

  • Although his story sounded believable, it lacked truthiness and left everyone suspicious.

  • The politician's promises lacked truthiness, leading many voters to question his integrity.

  • Her explanation was detailed but ultimately lacked truthiness in the eyes of the jury.

  • The witness's testimony lacked truthiness, casting doubt on the entire case.

  • The statement lacks truthiness and seems fabricated.

  • Why does this article lack truthiness?

  • Her argument, while eloquent, lacked truthiness and failed to convince the audience.

Synonyms

to ring hollow
vsto lack truthiness
4 8.2

To sound not sincere or true to people

emphasizes appearing untrue even when speech may sound convincing
to ring false
vsto lack truthiness
2 7.0

To seem untrue or not honest

stresses appearing untrue despite sometimes sounding persuasive

Antonyms

veracity
27 7.6

Being honest and not telling lies

truthiness
  • Literature
2 8.3

The way something appears to be true even when it is not

How True

truthfulness
13 2.7
plausibility
11 7.0
to lack truthiness
  • US
9.7
falsehood
46 4.3

Surface Forms

lack truthiness infinitive
lacked truthiness past
lacked truthiness past participle
lacking truthiness present participle
lacks truthiness third person singular

Morphology

lack + truthiness

The meaning is directly compositional: 'lack' (to be without) combined with 'truthiness' (the appearance of being true) yields 'to not have the appearance or quality of seeming true'. Although 'truthiness' is a coined, lower-frequency noun, the syntactic pattern 'lack + noun' is regular and cross-linguistically common, so a learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Lack truthiness comes from the idea of truthiness, a playful word made popular by a comedian to mean something that only 'seems true' because it feels right rather than because of facts. If something lacks truthiness, it does not look or feel true, so people doubt or do not trust it.