Dictionary

mistruth en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /mɪsˈtɹuːθ/ (UK)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From mis- + truth. Cognate with Middle High German missetriuwede.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) Untruth; falsehood.
   • “The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have created are destroying how society works: no civil discourse, no cooperation, misinformation, mistruth. And it’s not an American problem. This is not about Russian ads. This is a global problem.” 2017 December 12, Amy B Wang, “Former Facebook VP says social media is destroying society with ‘dopamine-driven feedback loops’”, in The Washington Post:
   • In my brief stay in Johannesburg, I had left a trail of mistruths and, in each case, the falsehood had come back to haunt me. 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 81:
2. (countable, uncountable) A statement which, while technically true, is dishonestly misleading.

Forms

Deriveds

mistruthful