"half-truth" meaning in English

See half-truth in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: half-truths [plural]
Etymology: half- + truth Etymology templates: {{prefix|en|half|truth}} half- + truth Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} half-truth (countable and uncountable, plural half-truths)
  1. A deceptive statement, especially one that is only partly true, is incomplete, misrepresents reality by telling part of the truth, or alters the time sequence of truths. Wikipedia link: half-truth Tags: countable, uncountable Synonyms: half truth Related terms: truth, true, anti-truth, lie, contextomy, white lie Translations (A deceptive statement): polopravda [feminine] (Czech), halve waarheid [feminine] (Dutch), duonveraĵo (Esperanto), puolitotuus (Finnish), demi-vérité [feminine] (French), semi-vérité [feminine] (French), Halbwahrheit [feminine] (German), полувистина (poluvistina) [feminine] (Macedonian), półprawda [feminine] (Polish), meia verdade [feminine] (Portuguese), meia-verdade [feminine] (Portuguese), полупра́вда (poluprávda) [feminine] (Russian), poluistina (Serbo-Croatian), verdad a medias [feminine] (Spanish), halvsanning [common-gender] (Swedish), ความจริงครึ่งเดียว (Thai)
    Sense id: en-half-truth-en-noun-3-1tahth Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English terms prefixed with half-

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for half-truth meaning in English (3.5kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "half",
        "3": "truth"
      },
      "expansion": "half- + truth",
      "name": "prefix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "half- + truth",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "half-truths",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "half-truth (countable and uncountable, plural half-truths)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms prefixed with half-",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1962 August, “Let's have plain speaking”, in Modern Railways, page 74",
          "text": "The Minister no doubt would claim that the public has already expressed its opinion by deserting the trains. As we have said before, this is scarcely a half-truth. By and large, where there has been a decline the public has deserted the out-dated trains; [...].",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A deceptive statement, especially one that is only partly true, is incomplete, misrepresents reality by telling part of the truth, or alters the time sequence of truths."
      ],
      "id": "en-half-truth-en-noun-3-1tahth",
      "links": [
        [
          "deceptive",
          "deceptive"
        ],
        [
          "statement",
          "statement"
        ],
        [
          "partly",
          "partly"
        ],
        [
          "incomplete",
          "incomplete"
        ],
        [
          "misrepresent",
          "misrepresent"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "truth"
        },
        {
          "word": "true"
        },
        {
          "word": "anti-truth"
        },
        {
          "word": "lie"
        },
        {
          "word": "contextomy"
        },
        {
          "word": "white lie"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "half truth"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "A deceptive statement",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "polopravda"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "A deceptive statement",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "halve waarheid"
        },
        {
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "A deceptive statement",
          "word": "duonveraĵo"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "A deceptive statement",
          "word": "puolitotuus"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "A deceptive statement",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "demi-vérité"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "A deceptive statement",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "semi-vérité"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "A deceptive statement",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Halbwahrheit"
        },
        {
          "code": "mk",
          "lang": "Macedonian",
          "roman": "poluvistina",
          "sense": "A deceptive statement",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "полувистина"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "A deceptive statement",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "półprawda"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "A deceptive statement",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "meia verdade"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "A deceptive statement",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "meia-verdade"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "poluprávda",
          "sense": "A deceptive statement",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "полупра́вда"
        },
        {
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "A deceptive statement",
          "word": "poluistina"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "A deceptive statement",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "verdad a medias"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "A deceptive statement",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "halvsanning"
        },
        {
          "code": "th",
          "lang": "Thai",
          "sense": "A deceptive statement",
          "word": "ความจริงครึ่งเดียว"
        }
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "half-truth"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "half-truth"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "half",
        "3": "truth"
      },
      "expansion": "half- + truth",
      "name": "prefix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "half- + truth",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "half-truths",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "half-truth (countable and uncountable, plural half-truths)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "truth"
    },
    {
      "word": "true"
    },
    {
      "word": "anti-truth"
    },
    {
      "word": "lie"
    },
    {
      "word": "contextomy"
    },
    {
      "word": "white lie"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms prefixed with half-",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English uncountable nouns"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1962 August, “Let's have plain speaking”, in Modern Railways, page 74",
          "text": "The Minister no doubt would claim that the public has already expressed its opinion by deserting the trains. As we have said before, this is scarcely a half-truth. By and large, where there has been a decline the public has deserted the out-dated trains; [...].",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A deceptive statement, especially one that is only partly true, is incomplete, misrepresents reality by telling part of the truth, or alters the time sequence of truths."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "deceptive",
          "deceptive"
        ],
        [
          "statement",
          "statement"
        ],
        [
          "partly",
          "partly"
        ],
        [
          "incomplete",
          "incomplete"
        ],
        [
          "misrepresent",
          "misrepresent"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "half-truth"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "half truth"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "A deceptive statement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "polopravda"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "A deceptive statement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "halve waarheid"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "A deceptive statement",
      "word": "duonveraĵo"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "A deceptive statement",
      "word": "puolitotuus"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "A deceptive statement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "demi-vérité"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "A deceptive statement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "semi-vérité"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "A deceptive statement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Halbwahrheit"
    },
    {
      "code": "mk",
      "lang": "Macedonian",
      "roman": "poluvistina",
      "sense": "A deceptive statement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "полувистина"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "A deceptive statement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "półprawda"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "A deceptive statement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "meia verdade"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "A deceptive statement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "meia-verdade"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "poluprávda",
      "sense": "A deceptive statement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "полупра́вда"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "A deceptive statement",
      "word": "poluistina"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "A deceptive statement",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "verdad a medias"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "A deceptive statement",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "halvsanning"
    },
    {
      "code": "th",
      "lang": "Thai",
      "sense": "A deceptive statement",
      "word": "ความจริงครึ่งเดียว"
    }
  ],
  "word": "half-truth"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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