canard C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary US /kəˈnɑrd/ UK /kæˈnɑːd/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun a false or baseless rumor or fabricated story The claim that the moon landing was faked is a persistent canard. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a false or baseless rumor... rumorhoaxfabricationfalsehoodfictionliestory ↔ Opposites facttruth Etymology AI details From French canard ('duck'), from the phrase vendre un canard à moitié ('to half-sell a duck'), an idiom meaning to swindle or cheat, hence a false report. canard French View etymology graph -> Topics General Vocabulary External links Google Images Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary # canard **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /kəˈnɑrd/ **IPA (UK):** /kæˈnɑːd/ ## Meanings 1. a false or baseless rumor or fabricated story ## Examples - The claim that the moon landing was faked is a persistent canard. ## Synonyms - rumor - hoax - fabrication - falsehood - fiction - lie - story ## Antonyms - fact - truth ## Roots and Affixes - Root: canard ## Etymology From French canard ('duck'), from the phrase vendre un canard à moitié ('to half-sell a duck'), an idiom meaning to swindle or cheat, hence a false report. ## AI Etymology Canard comes from French canard ('duck'), from the phrase vendre un canard à moitié ('to half-sell a duck'), an idiom meaning to swindle or cheat, hence a false report. The historical trail runs through canard in French. Used as a noun, canard now means "a false or baseless rumor or fabricated story", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English. ## Topics - General Vocabulary markdown