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# untruth

«untruth» in Mova's school dictionary: **a lie, a statement that is not true** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (an untruth, untruths)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (formal, euphemism) An untruth is a lie, a statement that is not true. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/untruth/#m1)

2) Untruth (uncountable) is the state of not being true. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/untruth/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

A polite or formal word for a lie, used in formal speech, news, school and stories when someone does not want to say «lie» bluntly. In safety and media lessons, spotting untruths online matters. Plain word: lie, fib (informal, small lie).

### examples

- I'm afraid that is an untruth. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/untruth/#x1)
- The newspaper printed an untruth about the singer. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/untruth/#x2)
- Telling untruths can hurt friendships. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/untruth/#x3)
- The fox told the hen an untruth to trick her. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/untruth/#x4)
- It was a small untruth, but it got him in trouble. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/untruth/#x5)

### note

Use «an untruth» (vowel sound). It is a softer, more formal word than «lie» — a euphemism. Plural: untruths. Opposite: truth.

### In the corpora

- [Companies hide extra costs, broken products and bad results behind soft words; politicians hide taxes and untruths the same way.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/23-fees-bugs-and-spin/0/)
- [Some untruths are told out of love.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/433-big-kids-little-kids-and-the-truth-at-home/25/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «untruth» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/U/untruth/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.