untruthful

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ʌnˈtruθfəl/ UK /ʌnˈtruːθfʊl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
not telling the truth; dishonest or false

His untruthful account of the accident fell apart under questioning.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · not telling the truth;... dishonest deceitful false mendacious lying deceptive insincere

Opposites

truthful honest sincere candid

Word family

Forms untruthfulness

Derived forms untruthfullyuntruthfulness

Related forms truth truthful untruth

Etymology

From untruth plus -ful, ultimately from un- ('not') plus Old English trēowþ ('truth, fidelity').

un- Old English trēowþ Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# untruthful

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ʌnˈtruθfəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ʌnˈtruːθfʊl/

## Meanings
1. not telling the truth; dishonest or false

## Examples
- His untruthful account of the accident fell apart under questioning.

## Synonyms
- dishonest
- deceitful
- false
- mendacious
- lying
- deceptive
- insincere

## Antonyms
- truthful
- honest
- sincere
- candid

## Derived Forms
- untruthfully
- untruthfulness

## Related Forms
- truth
- truthful
- untruth

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: un-
- Root: trēowþ

## Etymology
From untruth plus -ful, ultimately from un- ('not') plus Old English trēowþ ('truth, fidelity').

## AI Etymology
Untruthful comes from untruth plus -ful, ultimately from un- ('not') plus Old English trēowþ ('truth, fidelity'). In current use it is an adjective meaning "not telling the truth; dishonest or false". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The prefix un- is negative or privative, marking the absence, denial, or opposite of the base idea. The suffix -ful marks possession or fullness of the quality named by the base. The surface form is compositional: its joined elements remain visible in the modern word. The historical chain includes Old English un- and Old English trēowþ. Related English forms include truth, truthful, and untruth. Derived forms include untruthfully and untruthfulness. As a result, the modern word is best read as a negative, privative, or reversative formation built on a historically older base.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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