false consciousness

noun

A faulty understanding of the true character of social processes due to ideology.

Opposite
class consciousness
OriginGerman falsches Bewusstsein →
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Meanings

nounfalse consciousness (plural false consciousnesses)

plural false consciousnesses

  1. Marxismincluding its brand of social sciencesA faulty understanding of the true character of social processes due to ideology.

    The author is less inclined than Jung to treat freedom as an ideological illusion or false consciousness.

    2007, Roy E. Allen, Human Ecology Economics, →ISBN, page 187
    1 more example

    If the ugliness in American politics is all, or almost all, about the influence of big money, then working-class voters who support the right are victims of false consciousness.

    2016 January 29, Paul Krugman, “Plutocrats and Prejudice”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

Synonyms & antonyms

Opposite
class consciousness
Also see
pseudoconsciousness

Origin

  1. Germanfalsches Bewusstsein
  2. Englishfalse consciousness

Calque of German falsches Bewusstsein, as used by Friedrich Engels in a letter to Franz Mehring (1893).

More words from German

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic وَعْي زَائِف
  • وَعْي زَائِف (waʕy zāʔif)faulty understanding due to ideology
Chinese Mandarin 虛假意識 /虚假意识
  • 虛假意識 /虚假意识 (xūjiǎ yìshi)faulty understanding due to ideology
Finnish väärä tietoisuus
  • väärä tietoisuusfaulty understanding due to ideology
German falsches Bewusstsein
  • falsches Bewusstseinfaulty understanding due to ideology
Japanese 虚偽意識
  • 虚偽意識 (kyogi-ishiki)faulty understanding due to ideology
Korean 허위의식
  • 허위의식 (heowiuisik)faulty understanding due to ideology
Malay kesedaran palsu
  • kesedaran palsufaulty understanding due to ideology
Russian ло́жное созна́ние
  • ло́жное созна́ние (lóžnoje soznánije)faulty understanding due to ideology
Spanish falsa conciencia
  • falsa concienciafaulty understanding due to ideology
Turkish yanlış bilinç
  • yanlış bilinçfaulty understanding due to ideology
Cite this entry
APA

false consciousness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/false%20consciousness

MLA

“false consciousness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/false%20consciousness. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “false consciousness,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/false%20consciousness.

Source: false consciousness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.