Meaning & use
untrue
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Not matching the facts; false.
Grammar: Used after be or before a noun: that is untrue; an untrue story. It is milder and more formal than 'lie' or 'a lie'.
Patterns
- be untrue
- it is untrue that something
The rumor that the school would close turned out to be untrue.
It is simply untrue that prices have fallen.
He denied the untrue claims made in the newspaper.
adjectiveafter a verbliteraryold-fashioned
Not faithful or loyal to a person, promise or principle.
Grammar: Followed by to: he was untrue to his word. It is old-fashioned and often used in literature.
Patterns
- be untrue to someone
- untrue to your principles
In the ballad, the knight proves untrue to his lady.
She felt she would be untrue to herself if she stayed silent.
He was never untrue to his friends, even in hard times.
Word forms
| comparative | more untrue |
|---|---|
| superlative | most untrue |
Common combinations
- patently untrue
- The claim was patently untrue, as the photos showed.
- completely untrue
- What you heard is completely untrue.
- untrue statement
- An untrue statement in the report led to a correction.
- untrue to yourself
- He felt untrue to himself in that job.
- prove untrue
- The old belief proved untrue after more research.
Synonyms and how they differ
- false
- False is the most common and neutral choice, while untrue is slightly softer and often used to deny a claim politely.
- incorrect
- Incorrect suggests an honest mistake, whereas untrue can imply the statement was deliberately misleading.
- inaccurate
- Inaccurate means wrong in detail, so a statement can be partly right and still inaccurate, while untrue usually means wholly wrong.
- fictitious
- Fictitious means invented, and it is used for made-up names or stories rather than a mistaken claim.
Opposites
Word family
- untruth noun
- a false statement, a lie
- untruthful adjective
- not telling the truth
- untruthfully adverb
- in a way that is not honest
Commonly confused: untrue or lie?
untrue vs lie
A lie is something said on purpose to deceive. A statement can be untrue because of an honest mistake, so untrue does not accuse anyone of lying.
Practice
The politician said the report was ___ and demanded a correction.
Choose one answer.
Untrue means not matching the facts, which fits a report that needs correcting. Unfaithful refers to loyalty, so it is a tempting but wrong option here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “untrue”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.