False — Meaning, Definition & Synonyms

False (adjective) — Senses, Synonyms & Antonyms

1. not being in agreement with what is true

   "early reports about the explosion contained much false information"

   similar: erroneous, inaccurate, incorrect, inexact, invalid, off, unsound, untrue, untruthful, wrong, off base
   related: counterfactual, specious, spurious, deceptive, delusive, delusory, distorted, fallacious, fictitious, illusory, misleading, amiss, askew, awry, deceitful, dishonest, fraudulent, lying, mendacious, unconfirmed, unproven, untested, fabricated, invented, made-up, trumped-up
   opposite: accurate, correct, errorless, exact, factual, precise, proper, right, sound, true, valid, veracious
   near: confirmed, demonstrated, established, proven, tested, faultless, flawless, impeccable, letter-perfect, perfect

2. being such in appearance only and made with or manufactured from usually cheaper materials

   "George Washington's false teeth were not made of wood but of elephant ivory and cow's teeth"

   similar: artificial, bogus, dummy, ersatz, factitious, fake, faux, imitation, imitative, man-made, mimic, mock, pretend, sham, simulated, substitute, synthetic
   related: cultured, manufactured, process, unauthentic, adulterated, designer, doctored, engineered, fudged, juggled, manipulated, tampered (with), concocted, fabricated, counterfeit, deceptive, forged, fraudulent, misleading, phony, affected, brummagem, feigned, pinchbeck, pseudo, spurious
   opposite: genuine, natural, real
   near: authentic, bona fide, legitimate, true, premium, quality, valuable, pure, unadulterated

3. being such in appearance only and made or manufactured with the intention of committing fraud

   "arrested for selling false ID cards to teenagers"

   similar: bogus, counterfeit, fake, forged, inauthentic, phony, sham, snide, spurious, unauthentic
   related: artificial, factitious, imitation, man-made, mimic, mock, simulated, substitute, synthetic, dummy, nonfunctioning, ornamental, cultured, fabricated, manufactured, deceptive, delusive, misleading
   opposite: authentic, bona fide, genuine, real, unfaked
   near: natural, actual, true, valid

4. lacking in natural or spontaneous quality

   "so much of the sympathy that the widow received was false and hypocritical, since it came from people who never liked her husband in the first place"

   similar: affected, artificial, assumed, bogus, contrived, factitious, fake, feigned, forced, mechanical, mock, phony, plastic, pretended, pseudo, put-on, sham, simulated, spurious, strained, unnatural
   related: automatic, canned, concocted, fabricated, hokey, labored, manufactured, pat, unauthentic, unreal, unrealistic, double-dealing, empty, facile, hollow, hypocritical, insincere, left-handed, mealy, mealymouthed, two-faced, unctuous, exaggerated, histrionic, melodramatic, overacted, overdone, theatrical, cute, cutesy, genteel, goody-goody, mincing, overrefined, simpering, conventional, formal, impersonal, inflexible, rigid, stiff, stylized, wooden, artful, calculated, conscious, cultivated, deliberate, premeditated, studied
   opposite: artless, genuine, natural, spontaneous, unaffected, uncontrived, unfeigned, unforced
   near: authentic, bona fide, real, realistic, right, true, honest, ingenuous, sincere, unpretending, easy, effortless, smooth, extemporaneous, impromptu, impulsive, instinctive, unconscious, unprompted, unrehearsed, unstudied

5. marked by, based on, or done by the use of dishonest methods to acquire something of value

   "false advertising that claimed that the vegetables were organically grown when they weren't"

   similar: crooked, deceitful, defrauding, dishonest, double-dealing, fraudulent
   related: beguiling, deceiving, deceptive, deluding, delusive, delusory, duplicitous, fallacious, misleading, specious, spurious
   opposite: aboveboard, honest, truthful
   near: legitimate, true, valid

6. not true in one's allegiance to someone or something

   "false friends who deserted the prizefighter when all his money was gone"

   similar: disloyal, faithless, fickle, inconstant, perfidious, recreant, traitorous, treacherous, unfaithful, untrue
   related: irresponsible, trustless, undependable, unreliable, untrustworthy, faltering, hesitant, vacillating, wavering, dubious, irresolute, uncertain, apathetic, dispassionate, uninterested
   opposite: constant, dedicated, devoted, devout, down-the-line, faithful, fast, loyal, staunch, steadfast, steady, true
   near: dependable, dutiful, reliable, responsible, solid, tried, tried-and-true, trustable, trustworthy, trusty, unfaltering, unhesitating, unwavering, determined, intent, resolute, confirmed, dyed-in-the-wool, inveterate, sworn, ardent, avid, enthusiastic, fervent, fervid, impassioned, passionate

7. tending or having power to deceive

   "it turned out that the con man had made false promises of marriage to a dozen women"

   similar: beguiling, deceitful, deceiving, deceptive, deluding, delusive, delusory, fallacious, misleading, specious
   related: artful, crafty, cunning, devious, foxy, guileful, shady, shifty, slick, sly, sneaking, sneaky, subtile, subtle, trick, trickish, tricky, underhand, underhanded, wily, inaccurate, incorrect, wrong, bewildering, confounding, distracting, perplexing, puzzling, ambidextrous, crooked, defrauding, dishonest, dissembling, double-dealing, duplicitous, faithless, fast, fraudulent, knavish, lying, mendacious, untrustworthy, untruthful, bogus, counterfeit, fake, feigned, forged, jive (slang), phony, sham, spurious, insidious, perfidious, treacherous, ambiguous, circuitous, equivocal, evasive, artificial, backhanded, hypocritical, insincere, left-handed, two-faced
   opposite: aboveboard, forthright, nondeceptive, straightforward
   near: candid, direct, foursquare, frank, free-spoken, open, openhearted, outspoken, plain, plainspoken, straight, clarifying, elucidative, explanatory, illuminating, revealing, revelatory, honest, trustworthy, truthful