disinformation
/ˌdɪsɪnfəˈmeɪʃ(ə)n/
disinformation means false information intentionally disseminated to deliberately confuse or mislead; intentional misinformation. It carries an Arena rating of 1255, earned across 6 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, disinformation ranks #75 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #720 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #1,373 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #1,560 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words.
disinformation is pronounced /ˌdɪsɪnfəˈmeɪʃ(ə)n/.
Why “disinformation” is a great word
False information deliberately created and disseminated to deceive people or secure a strategic advantage. From the English prefix dis- (expressing negation or reversal) + information. Attested in the sense of intentional misinformation from 1939. Unlike "misinformation" (which is false but shared without harmful intent) or "propaganda" (which promotes a cause, often by selecting truths, rather than by planting known falsehoods), disinformation is a premeditated act of intellectual sabotage. It is the forged document slipped into an adversary's files, the synthetic video of a politician saying what they never said, the precisely calibrated rumor that turns a community against itself—a weapon that works by making shared truth impossible to find.
Etymology
Composed of dis- + information. Attested in the sense “intentional misinformation” in English from 1939. A different usage of disinformation occurred earlier, as early as 1887, as a simple synonym of misinformation.
noun
- False information intentionally disseminated to deliberately confuse or mislead; intentional misinformation.
- Fabricated or deliberately manipulated content; intentionally created conspiracy theories or rumors.
verb
- To use disinformation.e.g.“A country cannot disinformation its way out of fallen soldiers.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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