truthiness
nounUK /ˈtɹuːθinəs/
Etymology From truthy + -ness. Modern sense coined by American comedian and writer Stephen Colbert in October 17, 2005 on his show The Colbert Report.
- Truly may it be said, that her valuable qualities have been sanctified ; whilst her play of character has not been lost, but has been rendered more interesting than before. Every one who knows her is aware of her truthiness, and appreciates her kindness ; […]1824, Joseph John Gurney, “Amelia Opie”, in Memoirs of Joseph John Gurney, volume 1, Norwich: Fletcher and Alexander, published 1854, →OL, page 242:
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US, Colloquial Superficial or asserted truthfulness, without recourse to evidence.
- 'Cause you're looking at a straight-shooter, America. I tell it like it is. I calls 'em like I sees 'em. I will speak to you in plain simple English. And that brings us to tonight's word: truthiness.[2005 October 17, Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report, season 1, episode 1 (television production):
- Even in the halls of Congress, economic arguments against immigration are losing their aura of truthiness, so pro-enforcement types are focusing on national security.2006 August/September, “Immigration now, immigration tomorrow, immigration forever: reason's guide to reality-based reform”, in Reason, Reason Foundation, →ISSN:
1 more example
- Like the contemporary urban myth, tales of stomach frogs and "bosom serpents" persisted because they have truthiness.2013, Mary Roach, chapter 8, in Gulp:
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Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Programming, Sciences The property of being truthy, i.e. evaluating to true in a Boolean context.
- Usually, when you are receiving a Boolean value, you are most interested in checking its truthiness rather than its type.2020, James Padolsey, Clean Code in JavaScript: Develop reliable, maintainable, and robust JavaScript, Packt Publishing Ltd, →ISBN, page 181:
- Related terms
- untruthiness, alternative fact, cognitive dissonance, cognitive relativism, ring of truth, wikiality