Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Contrary to fact or truth.
- adjective Deliberately untrue.
- adjective Arising from mistaken ideas.
- adjective Intentionally deceptive.
- adjective Not keeping faith; treacherous: synonym: faithless.
- adjective Not genuine or real.
- adjective Erected temporarily, as for support during construction.
- adjective Resembling but not accurately or properly designated as such.
- adjective Music Of incorrect pitch.
- adjective Unwise; imprudent.
- adjective Computers Indicating one of two possible values taken by a variable in Boolean logic or a binary device.
- adverb In a treacherous or faithless manner.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Additional; assistant; subsidiary; supplementary; temporary; used to supplement or temporarily displace something: as, the false work or supports for a bridge which is under construction.
- Falsely.—To play false, to play one false
- To mislead by falsehood; deceive; betray.
- To defeat; balk; evade.
- To violate by want of veracity; falsify.
- To render false, treacherous, or dishonest.
- To feign, as a blow; aim by way of a feint.
- To be false; deceive; practise deceit.
- Not in conformity with fact; expressing or comprising what is contrary to fact or truth; erroneous; untrue: as, a false report; a false accusation; a false opinion.
- Giving utterance to what is not true; untruthful; mendacious: as, a false witness.
- Perfidious; treacherous; unfaithful; inconstant; disloyal; dishonest; unjust: said of persons.
- Containing or conveying deception, falsehood, or treachery; adapted or intended to mislead: said of things.
- Irregular; not according to rule or usage: as, false syntax or quantity.
- Not genuine; being other than it appears to be; not real; made in imitation, or to serve the purpose of the genuine article
- with intent to defraud or deceive; spurious: as, false coin;
- for the sake of mere appearance or for use or convenience; artificial: as, a false buttonhole; false teeth.
- Technically, in botany and zoology, having some superficial resemblance to some other plant or animal: used like the Latin quasi-, or Greek pseudo-, in composition. See
quasi- , pseudo-. - In music, not in tune; inaccurate in pitch; singing or playing out of tune.
- In heraldry, open or voided: said of some bearings: as, a false cross; a false roundel (an annulet); a false escutcheon (a bordure, or sometimes an orle).
- In fortification, an artificial mound or bank of earth forming part of a fortification.
- noun A falsehood; that which is false.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adverb Not truly; not honestly; falsely.
- transitive verb obsolete To report falsely; to falsify.
- transitive verb obsolete To betray; to falsify.
- transitive verb obsolete To mislead by want of truth; to deceive.
- transitive verb obsolete To feign; to pretend to make.
- adjective Uttering falsehood; unveracious; given to deceit; dishnest.
- adjective Not faithful or loyal, as to obligations, allegiance, vows, etc.; untrue; treacherous; perfidious
- adjective Not according with truth or reality; not true; fitted or likely to deceive or disappoint.
- adjective Not genuine or real; assumed or designed to deceive; counterfeit; hypocritical
- adjective Not well founded; not firm or trustworthy; erroneous
- adjective Not essential or permanent, as parts of a structure which are temporary or supplemental.
- adjective (Mus.) Not in tune.
- adjective (Arch.) a member having the appearance of an arch, though not of arch construction.
- adjective an architectural erection above the main cornice, concealing a roof, but not having windows or inclosing rooms.
- adjective any bearing which is not directly upon a vertical support; thus, the weight carried by a corbel has a
false bearing . - adjective an imperfect or interrupted cadence.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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If the word ˜false™ in a is taken in the third sense, therefore, a's primary significate does exist, since it is a fact that a is false in the third sense.
Insolubles Spade, Paul Vincent 2009
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The world may, and (as a matter of fact) does abound in false Churches, just as it abounds in false deities; but, this is rendered possible only _because they are false_.
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This Rome, this scene of false priests, clothed not in the beauty of holiness, but in far other vesture, is _false_: but what is it to Luther?
Sartor Resartus, and On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History Thomas Carlyle 1838
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No, she is _false, false, false_, -- _false_ as the lost angels who fell from paradise into the burning pit of doom. '
Ernest Linwood or, The Inner Life of the Author Caroline Lee Hentz 1828
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_false doctrine, heresy and schism_: false doctrine is the thought; heresy, the plan; and schism, the action -- of a Churchman against the
The Prayer Book Explained Percival Jackson
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My action should not plunge you into an abyss of woe; but _now_ that he is false -- _false as Hell_ ---- "
When the Birds Begin to Sing Harold Piffard
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These are so contemptible and so absurdly false, that they do not merit any other notice than to write _false_, _false_, on every page. "
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The only trace of Tom and Tim were their names on the marquee... which gave a whole new meaning to the term "false advertising."
David Macaray: Movie Stars Shouldn't Do Animal Voices David Macaray 2011
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The only trace of Tom and Tim were their names on the marquee... which gave a whole new meaning to the term "false advertising."
David Macaray: Movie Stars Shouldn't Do Animal Voices David Macaray 2011
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The only trace of Tom and Tim were their names on the marquee... which gave a whole new meaning to the term "false advertising."
David Macaray: Movie Stars Shouldn't Do Animal Voices David Macaray 2011
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