Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Something untrue; a lie.
  • noun The condition of being false; lack of truth.
  • noun Archaic Unfaithfulness.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The character of being untrue; contrariety to truth; want of veracity.
  • noun Treachery; want of fidelity; faithlessness; disloyalty.
  • noun A false assertion; a falsehood; a lie.
  • noun Moreover, they have spoken untruths; … and, to conclude, they are lying knaves.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The quality of being untrue; contrariety to truth; want of veracity; also, treachery; faithlessness; disloyalty.
  • noun That which is untrue; a false assertion; a falsehood; a lie; also, an act of treachery or disloyalty.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun a lie or falsehood
  • noun the condition of being false

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a false statement

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

un- +‎ truth

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Examples

  • This untruth is promoted by figures on TV and the radio who should or, more likely, do know better.

    Matthew Yglesias » The Real Torture Debate 2010

  • This untruth is promoted by figures on TV and the radio who should or, more likely, do know better.

    Matthew Yglesias » The Real Torture Debate 2010

  • One would normally think so, but what of the case where an untruth is valued more highly by someone than the truth?

    Questions and Truth : Coin Collecting News 2009

  • At the time of his experiments with nitrous oxide James thought that religion, though it might be based on untruth from the scientific point of view, was nevertheless good for one.

    The Nitrous Oxide Philosopher 1996

  • We believe in the sanctity of truth, but untruth is not unethical in Marxist philosophies.

    The Formidable Reality of Khrushchev's Russia 1960

  • The issue truth-versus-untruth is as far as possible kept in the background.

    The Prevention of Literature 1946

  • A favourite and amusing mode of asseveration among the syeds, especially in testifying to an untruth, is "Beh ser e jeddam" (by the head of my grandfather), meaning Mahommed; indeed it is a common adage that the greatest swearers are the greatest liars.

    Glimpses of Life and Manners in Persia 1856

  • The untruth is that Susan Sontag once read a novel by Cathleen Schine and was so entertained by its subtle meditation on questions of female intellect and crippling illness that she borrowed its title for a play she’d been thinking about writing, a play about Alice James’ heroic struggle with cancer, all the while certain that nobody would ever make the connection or confront her with the possibility of influence.

    Vitro Nasu » 2006 » July 2006

  • The untruth is that Susan Sontag once read a novel by Cathleen Schine and was so entertained by its subtle meditation on questions of female intellect and crippling illness that she borrowed its title for a play she’d been thinking about writing, a play about Alice James’ heroic struggle with cancer, all the while certain that nobody would ever make the connection or confront her with the possibility of influence.

    Desperately Seeking Alice 2006

  • The ignorant people in this County will get what they deserve in this election, just like they got Bush for two terms because they failed to see through his smear and fear tactics of untruth, which is exactly what both Hilary and McSame are doing in this election.

    Clinton says she expects lead in popular vote, primary delegates 2008

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