Truthier

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Sounding more like the truth because it feels right or matches one's gut instinct, even without supporting evidence
2. Appearing more accurate on the basis of intuition or wishful thinking rather than verifiable facts
3. Seeming more believable to a person because it fits their feelings, regardless of whether it is actually factual

Etymology: "Truthier" is the comparative of "truthy," and the story starts with a single coinage. "Truthiness" was popularized by Stephen Colbert, who used it on his television satire to mean the quality of feeling or seeming true rather than being supported by facts. "Truthy" was then formed by back-formation from that noun, shortening it to a simpler adjective, and "truthier" follows the regular pattern of comparatives like "bigger" or "funnier." The base of "truthy" is the ordinary English noun "truth," with the suffix "-y," which turns a noun into an adjective meaning "characterized by" or "having the quality of." So the adjective is built on the familiar word, but the reverse direction is the notable part: the adjective was derived from the longer noun rather than the other way round. The result is a word that sounds like it has been around for centuries but was in fact created in the early twenty-first century.

Synonyms: plausible, credible, believable

Antonyms: false, untrue