half-truth

noun

half-truth

noun

Etymology From half- + truth.

1

A deceptive statement, especially one that is only partly true, is incomplete, misrepresents reality by telling part of the truth, or alters the time sequence of truths.

  • The Minister no doubt would claim that the public has already expressed its opinion by deserting the trains. As we have said before, this is scarcely a half-truth. By and large, where there has been a decline the public has deserted the out-dated trains; [...].1962 August, “Let's have plain speaking”, in Modern Railways, page 74:
Related terms
truth, true, anti-truth, lie, contextomy, white lie

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.