FALLACY


Meaning of FALLACY in English

fal ‧ la ‧ cy /ˈfæləsi/ BrE AmE noun ( plural fallacies )

[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: fallacia , from fallere 'to deceive' ]

1 . [countable] a false idea or belief, especially one that a lot of people believe is true SYN misconception :

It’s a common fallacy that a neutered dog will become fat and lazy.

2 . [uncountable and countable] formal a weakness in someone’s argument or ideas which is caused by a mistake in their thinking SYN flaw

⇨ ↑ pathetic fallacy

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THESAURUS

■ something that is untrue

▪ myth something a lot of people believe because they want to believe it, not because it is based on fact:

The first myth about motherhood is that new mothers instantly fall in love with their babies.

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Contrary to popular myth, our streets are much safer now than they were 100 years ago.

▪ illusion a belief or idea that is false, especially a belief in something good about yourself or about the situation you are in:

Alcohol gives people the illusion of being witty and confident.

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People bought the land under the illusion that the value would increase.

▪ misconception an idea that is not true but which people believe because they do not have all the facts, or they have not properly understood the situation:

It’s a common misconception that vaccinations given in childhood last for life.

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Employers seem to share the general misconception that young people are more efficient than older workers.

▪ delusion a completely mistaken idea, which affects your behaviour and what you decide to do:

He began to suffer from paranoid delusions.

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Many people labour under the delusion (=have the delusion) that anything which says ‘natural ingredients’ on the label must be harmless.

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the delusion that women control most of the world' s wealth and power

▪ fallacy if you say that something is a fallacy, you mean that it is completely wrong to believe that it is true:

The idea that a good night’s sleep will cure everything is a complete fallacy.

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It’s a fallacy that all fat people are fat simply because they eat too much.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.