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Glite Dictionary
to ring false

to ring false

2 7.0
To seem untrue or not honest
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : sonar falso
  • In light of the realities of Beavis football, this "family atmosphere" rings false.

Examples

  • While the stoned simplicity of this credo has its appeal, it rings false to me.

    Blog text (21)

  • He held the expression for all of ten seconds before seeming to remember something that pained him, then gathered up his strength, and with a joviality that rang false, said, "Hey, Sport?"

    Fiction book (1999)

  • And it didn't ring false.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • I mean, you're the expert here, but to me, it rings false.

    Crash (2005)

  • The idea rang false, triggering alarm signals every time he considered it.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • This whole thing rings false on so many levels, and the attrition in the military ranks is alarming.

    Blog text (15)

  • "So what do you want to do?" Lane shrugged noncommittally, a gesture that somehow rang false.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • To me, these detracted from the film not because they patently didn't happen in reality, but because they rang false and felt contrived even by fictional standards.

    Blog text (34)

  • Yet Puttenham's praise of his ruler, though it doubtless pleased Elizabeth's flattery-tuned ears, rings false: at one point he claims that, as a poet, his dear queen puts Sidney, Wyatt, and all the rest to shame.

    Academic text (1998)

  • His claims of compassion ring false when you look closely at his record.

Synonyms

to ring hollow
vsto ring false
4 8.2

To sound not sincere or true to people

is about generally seeming untrue or implausible rather than only sounding so
to lack truthiness
vsto ring false
  • US
9.7

To seem not true or honest even when it sounds convincing

means generally to seem untrue insincere or implausible

Antonyms

to ring true
  • Informal
24 4.2

To seem real and believable

How Plausible

plausible
129 7.2
to ring false
2 7.0
absurd
288 4.4

Surface Forms

ring false infinitive
ringing false present participle
rings false third person singular
rang false past
rang false past participle

Morphology

ring + false

The meaning 'to seem untrue or insincere' is directly related to combining 'ring' in its evaluative sense ('to sound or seem') with 'false', so the compositional logic is present. However, using 'ring' to mean 'seem/sound' is a metaphorical extension that not all B1 learners will know, making the phrase partially predictable but requiring some exposure or knowledge of that verb sense.

Etymology

Ring false may come from music. One popular story says that when a note does not match the others it does not ring true but sounds false, so the phrase now means 'to seem untrue or insincere'.