From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfalsefalse /fɔːls $ fɒːls/ ●●● W3 adjective 1 untrueWRONG/INCORRECT a statement, story etc that is false is completely untrue Please decide whether the following statements are true or false. false accusationsRegisterIn everyday English, people usually say not true rather than false, apart from in the fixed expression true or false: What he said was false. → What he said was not true.2 wrongWRONG/INCORRECT based on incorrect information or ideas I don’t want to give you any false hopes. The statement gives us a false impression that we understand something when we do not. false assumptions about people of other cultures a false sense of security (=a feeling of being safe when you are not really safe)► see thesaurus at wrong3 not real a) FALSEnot real, but intended to seem real and deceive people The drugs were hidden in a suitcase with a false bottom. The man had given a false name and address. b) FALSEartificialfalse teeth/hair/eyelashes etc► see thesaurus at artificial4 not sincerePRETEND not sincere or honest, and pretending to have feelings that you do not really have She’s so false. a false laugh ‘You played brilliantly.’ ‘Not really, ’ Ian replied with false modesty.5 → false economy6 → under false pretences7 → false move/step8 → false imprisonment/arrestTHESAURUSfalse not real, but intended to seem real and deceive peopleHe uses a false name.fake made to look or seem like something else, especially something worth a lot more moneyfake fura fake Rolex watchfake designer goodsa fake $100 billforged a forged official document or bank note has been illegally made to look like a real onea forged passporta forged £50 notecounterfeit /ˈkaʊntəfɪt $ -tər-/ counterfeit money or goods have been illegally made to look exactly like something elseHow do you detect counterfeit currency?counterfeit drugsimitation made to look real – used especially about guns, bombs etc or about materialsThe two men used an imitation firearm to carry out the robbery.imitation leather/silk/silverphoney/phony / ˈfəʊni $ ˈfoʊ-/ disapproving informal false – used when you think someone is deliberately trying to deceive peopleShe put on a phoney New York accent.The doctors were accused of supplying phoney medical certificates.There’s something phoney about him.phony advertisementsspurious /ˈspjʊəriəs $ ˈspjʊr-/ false and giving a wrong impression about someone or somethingspurious claimsThat’s a spurious argument.The company was trying to get some spurious respectability by using our name.
Examples from the Corpus
false• Please decide whether the following statements are true or false.• Decide whether these statements are true or false.• These are serious charges that are wholly unfounded and completely false.• Her claims of being able to recall past lives were later proved false.• Her smile and welcome seemed false.• He gave false and misleading statements to the court.• My mother avoided visiting Bali on the quite false assumption that the place is full of tourists.• Many false assumptions were made about the planet Jupiter.• Her suitcase had a false bottom, containing 2 kilos of heroin.• Her face took on a look of false delight.• It did not disconcert Sly that he found himself addressing an audience who were all wearing false dingo ears.• She was heavily made up, with false eyelashes and bright red lipstick.• "Merry Christmas, '' she said with false heartiness.• Taken at face value the words found sinister and can convey a false impression like some sort of second-rate horror movie.• The article gives a totally false impression of life in Russia today.• The title gives a false impression of what the book is actually about.• We were given false information about his background.• He gave the clerk a false name and address in case the police were looking for him.• He gave a false name and address to the police.• Rosenberg had supplied a false name and address.• With these he could begin to construct the illustrated history of his subject, starting with a false name.• The personality itself can he divided into two parts: false personality and personality proper.• Nearly a third of adults in the UK have false teeth.true or false• But is that image true or false?• We have very few beliefs, true or false, about what our beliefs about honey etc. are: why should we?• The problem raised by the theory of ideology is the analysis of knowledge as true or false, according to its social determination.• The facts that we know, true or false, are the facts that we live by.• Notes accompanying the disc offer facts about synthetic fibres, hydrocarbons, and plastics together with true or false quizzes.• Your biggest task is to make your true or false statements challenging for your readers.• And like the film Jaws, true or false, this is a story that will run and run.a false sense of security• Large profits over the last two years have given stock investors a false sense of security.• An attempt to lull him into a false sense of security.• Gone is the wide fast road and its dangerous crossing, where the stripes gave walkers a false sense of security.• Had she allowed herself to be lulled into a false sense of security?• Perhaps it gives them a false sense of security.• The entire procedure would give a false sense of security.• The reported wind speeds gave everyone a false sense of security.• They preferred their little aerosols of teargas which gave them a false sense of security.• We had been lulled into a false sense of security.false teeth/hair/eyelashes etc• And she can't be the only young girl in the school with a full set of false teeth.• But Robert could have wished the man would get some false teeth.• He rummaged the bed - another fright, his life was full of them - for his false teeth.• Should I have taken the false teeth?• But I remember two things about him-his false teeth and shiny balding head.• The officer was city-bred and educated, so that the false teeth appeared to him in a different light.• Talk of false teeth in this setting?• His lips were intensely smiling and his false teeth shone.false modesty• I say that with no false modesty.• Miranda, while not vain, did not suffer from false modesty.• This was in no way false modesty - he considered engineering one of the highest possible callings.• There is no false modesty here, no subtle, indirect swaggering; the author's honesty rings true.• That was a fact she accepted without false modesty or pride.• It would be false modesty to fail to recognize that it is you that is selling..• It would be false modesty to say that we win games on luck alone.From Longman Business Dictionaryfalsefalse /fɔːlsfɒːls/ adjective1not true or real, but intended to look real in order to deceive peoplefalse and misleading advertisementsFirms issuing false certificates might be subject to lawsuits.2a false economy something that you think will save money but which will really cost you moreIt’s a false economy to hire unqualified staff.Origin false (900-1000) Latin falsus, from fallere “to deceive” 