false
/fɔːls//fɔls/
false adjective: untrue, not factual, factually incorrect.
Adjective (1)
false (comparative falser, superlative falsest)
- Untrue, not factual, factually incorrect.
- Also the rule of false position, with dyuers examples not onely vulgar, but some appertaynyng to the rule of Algeber.1551, James A.H. Murray, editor, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles: Founded Mainly on the Materials Collected by the Philological Society, volume 1, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published...
- Synonyms:
- erroneous, fallacious, bastard, counterfactual, off, counterfeit, fictitious, inaccurate, incorrect, invented
- Based on factually incorrect premises.
- false legislation, false punishment
- Spurious, artificial.
- false teeth
- At her invitation he outlined for her the succeeding chapters with terse military accuracy; and what she liked best and best understood was avoidance of that false modesty which condescends, turning technicality into pabulum.1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “Silverside”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 300
- Of a state in Boolean logic that indicates a negative result.
- Uttering falsehood; dishonest or deceitful.
- a false witness
- Not faithful or loyal, as to obligations, allegiance, vows, etc.; untrue; treacherous.
- a false friend, lover, or subject; false to promises
- I to my ſelf was falſe, e’re thou to me,[…]1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 52, line 25
- Not well founded; not firm or trustworthy; erroneous.
- a false conclusion; a false construction in grammar
- So downe he fell, as an huge rockie clift, / Whoſe falſe foundacion waues haue waſht away,[…]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 54, page 170
- Not essential or permanent, as parts of a structure which are temporary or supplemental.
- Used in the vernacular name of a species (or group of species) together with the name of another species to which it is similar in appearance.
- false scorpion (an arachnid)
- false killer whale (a dolphin)
- Out of tune.
Verb
false (third-person singular simple present falses, present participle falsing, simple past and past participle falsed)
- To incorrectly decode noise as if it were a valid signal.
- To begin a race before being instructed to do so; to do a false start.
- Records have been broken, races have been dedicated, dreams have been dreamed, starts have been falsed and nouns have been verbed.2011 September 1, Harry Pearson, “London 2012 can legacy by verbing the noun”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 22 Sep 2024
- To violate, to betray (a promise, an agreement, one’s faith, etc.).
- And he that could with giftes and promiſes,
Inueigle him that lead a thouſand horſe,
And make him falſe his faith vnto his King,
Will quickly win ſuch as be like himſelfe.c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...
- Synonyms:
- double-cross, falsify, sell out, assfuck, betray, burn, cop out, cross out, cross up, do someone dirty
- And he that could with giftes and promiſes,
- To counterfeit, to forge.
- To make false, to corrupt from something true or real.
Adverb
false (comparative more false, superlative most false)
- In a dishonest and disloyal way; falsely.
- Sweet Lord, you play me falſe.1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
- Synonyms:
- dastardly, insincerely, traitorwise, dishonestly, falsefully, falsely, illegitimately, truthlessly, underhand, underhanded
Noun
false (plural falses)
- One of two options on a true-or-false test, that not representing true.
- The student received a failing grade for circling every true and false on her quiz.
Adjective (2) capitalized: FALSE
FALSE (not comparable)
false meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
false in Hindi
- untrue, not factual, wrong
- झूठा jhūṭhā, खोटा khoṭā
false in Tamil
- போலியான, பொய்யான, பொய், தவறு
false in Marathi
- false, inaccurate
- खोटे khoṭe
false in Urdu
- untrue, not factual, wrong
- جھوٹھا jhūṭhā, غلط ġalat, کھوٹا khōṭā
More languagesFewer languages
- false in Bengali
- মিছা micha
- false in Telugu
- బూటకము būṭakamu, దొంగ doṅga, దుద్దు duddu
- false in Malayalam
- കള്ള kaḷḷa, വിടു viṭu
- false in Kannada
- ಸುಳ್ಳಾದ, ಹುಸಿಯಾದ, ನಿಜವಲ್ಲದ, ಅನೃತ
- false in Punjabi
- ਗ਼ਲਤ ġalat
- false in Gujarati
- જુઠ્ઠું juṭhṭhũ
- false in Odia
- ମିଛ micha
- false in Sanskrit
- असत् ásat, असत्य asatya, अशुद्ध aśuddha
- false in Assamese
- মিছা misa, ভুৱা bhua
- false in Arabic
- زَائِف zāʔif, بَاطِل bāṭil, كَاذِب kāḏib
- false in Malay
- salah, palsu
- false in Indonesian
- salah, buatan
- false in Persian
- غلط ġalat
- false in Vietnamese
- sai
Examples of false in a sentence
- false powderpost beetles (members of Bostrichidae not in Lyctinae)
- Was he sick and unable to write — was he dead — or, still more terrible thought, had he proved false?1861, E. J. Guerin, Mountain Charley, page 7:
Synonyms of false
- erroneous
- fallacious
- bastard
- counterfactual
- off
- counterfeit
- fictitious
- inaccurate
- incorrect
- invented
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- made up
- nonfactual
- nontrue
- nontruthful
- pseudo-
- spurious
- untrue
- untruthful
- unveracious
- unveridical
- wrong
- double-cross
- falsify
- sell out
- assfuck
- betray
- burn
- cop out
- cross out
- cross up
- do someone dirty
- do the dirty on
- go back on
- knife
- let down
- play someone false
- sell
- sell the pass
- sell down the river
- sell down
Antonyms
Forms of false
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | falser |
| superlative | falsest |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | falses |
| present participle | falsing |
| past participle | falsed |
| past | falsed |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | more false |
| superlative | most false |
| Noun | |
| plural | falses |
Origin of false
From Middle English false, fals, from Old English fals (“false; counterfeit; fraudulent; wrong; mistaken”), from Latin falsus (“counterfeit, false; falsehood”), perfect passive participle of fallō (“deceive”). Reinforced in Middle English by Anglo-Norman and Old French fals, faus. Compare Scots fals, false, Saterland Frisian falsk, German falsch, Dutch vals, Swedish and Danish falsk; all from Latin falsus. Displaced native Middle English les, lese, from Old English lēas (“false”); See lease, leasing. Doublet of faux. The verb is from Middle English falsen, falsien, from Old French falser, from Latin falsō (“falsify”), itself also from falsus; compare French fausser (“to falsify, to distort”).
Words formed from false
- bear false witness
- false 9
- false acacia
- false action
- false advertising
- false alarm
- false albacore
- false alder
- false analogy
- false antechinus
- false arrest
- false asphodel
- false attack
- false balance
- false banana
- false blue indigo
- false borrowing
- false bottom
- false buttonweed
- falsecard
- false cause
- false ceiling
- false chanterelle
- false cirrus
- false cognate
- false colour
- false conception
- false consciousness
- false cousin
- false crab
- false croup
- false cypress
- false daisy
- false dandelion
- false dawn
- false dichotomy
- false dilemma
- false documentary
- falsedom
- false door
- false drop
- false easting
- false economy
- false equivalence
- false eyelash
- false eyelashes
- false face
- falseface
- false fire
- false-flag
- false flag
- false flagged
- false-flagger
- false flagger
- false flagging
- false flat
- false flax
- false flax oil
- false foxglove
- false friend
Phrases with false
- false 9s
- False Bay
- false key
- false rib
- false grip
- false hemp
- false keel
- false keys
- false loan
- false move
- false nine
- false note
140 more phrasesFewer phrases
- false rail
- false ribs
- false step
- false tack
- false tree
- rang false
- ring false
- rung false
- false crabs
- false dawns
- false doors
- false drops
- false faces
- false fires
- false flags
- false flats
- false fruit
- false grips
- false holly
- false jalap
- false keels
- false light
- false loans
- false morel
- false moves
- false nines
- false notes
- false oxlip
- false rails
- false scent
- false start
- false steps
- false tacks
- false teeth
- false vacua
- false widow
- false works
- rings false
- false alarms
- false croups
- false fruits
- false galena
- false gavial
- false lights
- false mallow
- false mastic
- false memory
- false morels
- false nutmeg
- false scents
- false shower
- false signal
- false starts
- false summit
- false vacuum
- false violet
- false widows
- false acacias
- false actions
- false arrests
- false attacks
- false bananas
- false bottoms
- false colours
- false cousins
- false friends
- false gavials
- false gharial
- false hollies
- false mallows
- false mayweed
- false measles
- false mermaid
- false modesty
- false monarch
- false primary
- false quarter
- false rhubarb
- false sharing
- false showers
- false signals
- false summits
- false truffle
- false vacuums
- false verbena
- false violets
- false witness
- ringing false
- true or false
- false balances
- false cognates
- false dilemmas
- false eastings
- false flaggers
- false gharials
- false harmonic
- false ironwort
- false mayweeds
- false memories
- false mermaids
- false mesquite
- false monarchs
- false negative
- false northing
- false number 9
- false positive
- false pretence
- false pretense
- false quarters
- false relation
- false rhubarbs
- false scorpion
- false sergeant
- false trevally
- false truffles
- false analogies
- false economies
- false flaggotry
- false flax oils
- false foxgloves
- false harmonics
- false hellebore
- false mesquites
- false miterwort
- false modesties
- false negatives
- false northings
- false number 9s
- false pimpernel
- false pineapple
- false positives
- false pregnancy
- false pretences
- false pretenses
- false primaries
- false relations
- false scorpions
- false sergeants
- false witnesses
- false borrowings
Questions about false
- What does false mean?
- False means untrue, not factual, factually incorrect.
- What is false in Hindi?
- False in Hindi is झूठा (jhūṭhā), खोटा (khoṭā). See False meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use false in a sentence?
- false powderpost beetles (members of Bostrichidae not in Lyctinae)
- What part of speech is false?
- False can be an adjective, a verb, an adverb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce false?
- False is pronounced /fɔːls/ (UK).
Words near false in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: false (page history and authors); FALSE (page history and authors); false (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); खोटे (Marathi) (page history and authors); মিছা (Bengali) (page history and authors); దుద్దు (Telugu) (page history and authors); കള്ള (Malayalam) (page history and authors); false (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਗ਼ਲਤ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); જુઠ્ઠું (Gujarati) (page history and authors); ମିଛ (Odia) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-false.ogg, En-us-false.ogg.
Cite this entry: “false.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/false. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.