false·hood

[fawls-hood]
noun
1.
a false statement; lie. fabrication, prevarication, falsification, canard, invention, fiction, story.
2.
something false; an untrue idea, belief, etc.: The Nazis propagated the falsehood of racial superiority.
3.
the act of lying or making false statements.
4.
lack of conformity to truth or fact. untruthfulness, inveracity, mendacity.
5.
Obsolete, deception.

Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English falshede. See false, -hood


1. Falsehood, fib, lie, untruth refer to something untrue or incorrect. A falsehood is a statement that distorts or suppresses the truth, in order to deceive: to tell a falsehood about one's ancestry in order to gain acceptance. A fib denotes a trivial falsehood, and is often used to characterize that which is not strictly true: a polite fib. A lie is a vicious falsehood: to tell a lie about one's neighbor. An untruth is an incorrect statement, either intentionally misleading (less harsh, however, than falsehood or lie) or arising from misunderstanding or ignorance: I'm afraid you are telling an untruth.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To falsehood
00:10
Falsehood is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
Collins
World English Dictionary
falsehood (ˈfɔːlsˌhʊd) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  the quality of being untrue
2.  an untrue statement; lie
3.  the act of deceiving or lying

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

falsehood
late 13c., "deceitfulness," also "a lie," from false + -hood.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Maybe he's not afraid of anything except endorsing what he considers to be a
  falsehood.
Had you applied it to your word-ideas, you would probably have quickly
  recognized their falsehood.
But the truth or the falsehood, the value or the worthlessness, of these
  criticisms are not of importance now.
It's annoying responding to somebody claiming falsehood to be true.
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT