mistruth

plural mistruths

1. countableuncountableUntruth; falsehood.

   In my brief stay in Johannesburg, I had left a trail of mistruths and, in each case, the falsehood had come back to haunt me.

   1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 81

   1 more example

   “The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have created are destroying how society works: no civil discourse, no cooperation, misinformation, mistruth. And it’s not an American problem. This is not about Russian ads. This is a global problem.”

   2017 December 12, Amy B Wang, “Former Facebook VP says social media is destroying society with ‘dopamine-driven feedback loops’”, in The Washington Post

2. countableuncountableA statement which, while technically true, is dishonestly misleading.