Phrase guide

false consciousness

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A faulty understanding of the true character of social processes due to ideology.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Marxism

Qualifier: including its brand of social sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Calque of German falsches Bewusstsein, as used by Friedrich Engels in a letter to Franz Mehring (1893).

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: وَعْي زَائِف (waʕy zāʔif) — faulty understanding due to ideology
  • Chinese Mandarin: 虛假意識 /虚假意识 (xūjiǎ yìshi) — faulty understanding due to ideology
  • Finnish: väärä tietoisuus — faulty understanding due to ideology
  • German: falsches Bewusstsein — faulty understanding due to ideology
  • Japanese: 虚偽意識 (kyogi-ishiki) — faulty understanding due to ideology
  • Korean: 허위의식 (heowiuisik) — faulty understanding due to ideology
  • Malay: kesedaran palsu — faulty understanding due to ideology
  • Russian: ло́жное созна́ние (lóžnoje soznánije) — faulty understanding due to ideology
  • Spanish: falsa conciencia — faulty understanding due to ideology
  • Turkish: yanlış bilinç — faulty understanding due to ideology