Meanings
comparative more untruthful · superlative most untruthful
- Not giving the truth; providing untrue facts; lying.First known use circa 1820s
Cousin, good night; / And whatsoe’er be told of me henceforth, / A most untruthful annalist were he, / Who said I did not love my cousin Anna.
1827, [Henry Taylor], act III, scene V, in Isaac Comnenus. A Play., London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 1342 more examples
Upon principle it is his aim to exhibit integrity of dealing, honest and godly sincerity to all men; if he fail, it must be in degree, it cannot be in kind; for a false and untruthful mind can never rightly know God; the more we know of him, the more upright and ingenuous, and liberal, and kind, and humane, and generous, must be our conduct to man.
1832, chapter VI, in The Waning Church, London: […] James Nisbet, […], →OCLC, page 114He who obeys not the good Shepherd of the soul and heart has an untruthful mind; a mind filled with fallacies; a mind of wrong resolvings and concludings.
1965, Ann Ree Colton, The soul and the ethic, page 167 - Pertaining to falsehood; corrupt; dishonest.First known use circa 1820s
But what was our astonishment when the “Seven Letters by Anglicanus” made their appearance amongst us, accompanied by the report that you—one of our brethren—was the author of that untruthful, bitter, and malignant publication!
1828, Charles Thomson, Letter to the Rev. Henry Grey, on Certain Passages Contained in the Letters of Anglicanus, Edinburgh: […] William Whyte & Co. […] and sold by M[aurice] Ogle, and William Collins, […], →OCLC, page 4
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From un- + truthful. Compare Middle English untreuthfull, untrowþeful, wntreuthtfull (“unbelieving, infidel”).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic كَاذِب
- كَاذِب (kāḏib)not giving the truth, lying
Bulgarian лъжлив, нечестен
- лъжлив (lăžliv)not giving the truth, lying
- нечестен (nečesten)dishonest
Finnish valheellinen, epärehellinen
- valheellinennot giving the truth, lying
- epärehellinendishonest
French menteur, malhonnête
- menteurnot giving the truth, lying
- malhonnêtedishonest
German unwahrheitlich, unehrlich
- unwahrheitlichnot giving the truth, lying
- unehrlichdishonest
Italian bugiardo
- bugiardonot giving the truth, lying
Latin mendax
- mendaxnot giving the truth, lying
Romanian neveridic, fals
- neveridicnot giving the truth, lying
- falsnot giving the truth, lying
- mincinosnot giving the truth, lying
Scottish Gaelic breugach
- breugachnot giving the truth, lying
Spanish embustero, mentiroso
- embusteronot giving the truth, lying
- mentirosonot giving the truth, lying
Tagalog sinungaling
- sinungalingdishonest
Cite this entry
untruthful. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/untruthful
“untruthful.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/untruthful. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “untruthful,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/untruthful.
Source: untruthful on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.