Dictionary entry

Falsehood

Webster's Dictionary 1913

False″hood (?), n. [False + -hood] 1. Want of truth or accuracy; an untrue assertion or representation; error; misrepresentation; falsity.

Though it be a lie in the clock, it is but a falsehood in the hand of the dial when pointing at a wrong hour, if rightly following the direction of the wheel which moveth it. Fuller.

2. A deliberate intentional assertion of what is known to be untrue; a departure from moral integrity; a lie.

3. Treachery; deceit; perfidy; unfaithfulness.

Betrayed by falsehood of his guard. Shak.

4. A counterfeit; a false appearance; an imposture.

For his molten image is falsehood. Jer. x. 14.

No falsehood can endure

Touch of celestial temper. Milton.

Syn. — Falsity; lie; untruth; fiction; fabrication. See Falsity.