untrue
adj/ʌnˈtɹuː/
Etymology From Middle English untrewe, from Old English untrīewe, from Proto-West Germanic *untriuwī, from Proto-Germanic *untriwwiz. Equivalent to un- + true.
1
False; not true.
- She says that I stole her necklace, but that's completely untrue.
- "I know it is true, for an untrue word never passed her lips."1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 11:
2 more examples
- This statement is untrue.2004, George Carlin, When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 264:
- The service aggressively maintained its position until I produced evidence proving it was untrue - including a recording of one of the calls with a senior MI5 officer.2025 July 6, Daniel De Simone, “How MI5 piled falsehood on falsehood in court in the case of a spy who abused women”, in BBC News, retrieved 06 Jul 2025:
2
Not faithful or loyal.
- Now you say you're sorry / For being so untrue / Well, you can cry me a river, cry me a river1953, Arthur Hamilton, “Cry Me a River”:
- Let me be the one you come running to / I'll never be untrue1971, “Let's Stay Together”, performed by Al Green:
1 more example
- Tonight you didn't come / And my senses all were reeling / I had a certain scary feeling you'd been untrue2019, “The Night You Didn't Come”, in Becoming Peter Ivers, performed by Peter Ivers:
- Synonyms
- bastard, counterfactual, erroneous, fallacious, false, fictitious, inaccurate, incorrect, invented, made up, nonfactual, nontrue, nontruthful, pseudo-, spurious, untrue, untruthful, unveracious, unveridical, wrong
- Derived terms
- untruism
- Hyponyms
- concocted, deceitful, deceptive, dishonest, fabricated, falsified, faux, mendacious, misdirective, misleading, prevaricated, unfaithful