Meanings
nounfalse positive (plural false positives)
plural false positives
- A result of a test that shows as present something that is absent.
A false positive from a cancer screening test will unnecessarily frighten a healthy person; a false negative will deprive them of timely treatment.
1 more example
A false positive can be returned on a password checking algorithm when the password is tested against a dictionary but the password does not contain a dictionary word.
Synonyms: false alarm
- mathematicsA type I error.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA result of a test that shows as present something that is absent.
Similar
Similar
antonym(s) of “result of a test that shows as present something that is absent”
Opposite
antonym(s) of “type I error in statistics”
Opposite
Also see
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 假阳性
- 假阳性 (jiǎyángxìng)result of a test that shows as present something that is absent
Czech falešně pozitivní výsledek, nesprávné pozitivní výsledek
- falešně pozitivní výsledekresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
- nesprávné pozitivní výsledekresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
- falešný poplachresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
- planý poplachresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
Dutch vals positief resultaat, vals alarm
- vals positief resultaatresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
- vals alarmresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
Finnish väärä positiivinen
- väärä positiivinenresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
French faux positif, fausse alerte
- faux positifresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
- fausse alerteresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
German falsch positives Ergebnis, Fehlalarm
- falsch positives Ergebnisresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
- Fehlalarmresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
- Falschmeldungresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
Greek ψευδώς θετικό
- ψευδώς θετικό (psevdós thetikó)result of a test that shows as present something that is absent
Hebrew זיהוי חיובי שגוי
- זיהוי חיובי שגויresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
Hungarian hamis pozitív, téves riasztás
- hamis pozitívresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
- téves riasztásresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
- hamis riasztásresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
- vakriasztásresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
Indonesian hasil positif palsu, alarm palsu
- hasil positif palsuresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
- alarm palsuresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
Irish bréagdheimhneacht
- bréagdheimhneachtresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
Polish wynik fałszywie dodatni
- wynik fałszywie dodatniresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
Portuguese falso positivo
- falso positivoresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
Romanian rezultat fals-pozitiv, alarmă falsă
- rezultat fals-pozitivresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
- alarmă falsăresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
Russian ложноположи́тельный результа́т, ло́жное сраба́тывание
- ложноположи́тельный результа́т (ložnopoložítelʹnyj rezulʹtát)result of a test that shows as present something that is absent
- ло́жное сраба́тывание (lóžnoje srabátyvanije)result of a test that shows as present something that is absent
Slovak falošne pozitívny výsledok, nesprávne pozitívny výsledok
- falošne pozitívny výsledokresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
- nesprávne pozitívny výsledokresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
- falošný poplachresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
- planý poplachresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
Spanish falso positivo
- falso positivoresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
Swedish falsk positiv
- falsk positivresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
Turkish yanlış alarm
- yanlış alarmresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
Ukrainian хибнопозитивний результат, помилкове спрацювання
- хибнопозитивний результат (xybnopozytyvnyj rezulʹtat)result of a test that shows as present something that is absent
- помилкове спрацювання (pomylkove spracjuvannja)result of a test that shows as present something that is absent
Vietnamese nhận diện sai, kết quả dương tính giả
- nhận diện sairesult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
- kết quả dương tính giảresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
- báo động giảresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
- dương tính giảresult of a test that shows as present something that is absent
Cite this entry
APA
false positive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/false%20positive
MLA
“false positive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/false%20positive. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “false positive,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/false%20positive.
Source: false positive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.