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misinformation
[ mis-in-fer-mey-shuhn ]
noun
- false information that is spread, regardless of whether there is intent to mislead:
In the chaotic hours after the earthquake, a lot of misinformation was reported in the news.
Word History and Origins
Origin of misinformation1
Example Sentences
Amid the ongoing outbreaks, pediatricians have stepped up efforts to rebut misinformation about both the disease and the vaccine.
Political opponents and government watchdogs have criticised Doge for acting without transparency and spreading misinformation about government spending - and accuse Musk of overstepping his authority as an unelected official.
They instead focus on tackling misinformation, inequality and discrimination, improving trust in politics and guarding against electoral interference.
He added debate surrounding the ruling had been muddied by misinformation and "attempts to delegitimise" the Supreme Court.
The inescapable conclusion is that Kennedy’s HHS is in the grip of a pseudoscience revolution in which misinformation and disinformation are ascendant.
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Related Words
Misinformation Vs. Disinformation
's the difference between misinformation Իdisinformation?
Misinformation refers to false information, regardless of whether or not it’s intended to mislead or deceive people. Disinformation, in contrast, refers to false information that’s spread with the specific intent of misleading or deceiving people.
Due to their similarity, the terms are sometimes used in overlapping ways. All disinformation is misinformation, but not all misinformation is disinformation. Disinformation is the more specific of the two because it always implies that the false information is being provided or spread on purpose.
Disinformation is especially used in the context of large-scale deception, such as a disinformation campaign by a government that targets the population of another country. Misinformation can be spread with the intent to trick people or just because someone incorrectly thinks it’s true.
This distinction can also be seen in the difference between their verb forms, misinform and disinform. To misinform someone is to provide them with wrong information, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it was intentional. Disinform, which is much less commonly used, means to intentionally provide or spread false information.
One way to remember the difference between misinformation and disinformation is to remember that misinformation can be a mistake, while disinformation is not just false but dishonest.
Here’s an example of misinformation and disinformation used correctly in a sentence.
Example: The intelligence report concluded that the rumors spread prior to the election were not simply the result of misinformation but rather of coordinated disinformation by a foreign power.
Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between misinformation and disinformation.
Quiz yourself on misinformation .disinformation!
Should misinformation or disinformation be used in the following sentence?
The government spread _____ about the location of their army in hopes of tricking the enemy.
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