untrue
/ʌnˈtɹuː/adjective
untrue is spelled U-N-T-R-U-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,896th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, untrue means “False; not true” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in untrue?
| Letters | 6: U-N-T-R-U-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.6 times per million words; the 16,896th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is untrue?
Untrue appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,896th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce untrue?
- /ʌnˈtɹuː/
Untrue has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-untrue.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of untrue
- more untrue comparative
- most untrue superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does untrue mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
False; not true.
She says that I stole her necklace, but that's completely untrue.
- 2
Not faithful or loyal.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Untrue in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense false:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | unwahr |
| Portuguese | falso |
| Spanish | falso, incorrecto, inexacto, fatulo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does untrue come from?
From Middle English untrewe, from Old English untrīewe, from Proto-West Germanic *untriuwī, from Proto-Germanic *untriwwiz. Equivalent to un- + true.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).