Phrase guide

false negative

noun · 2 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈfɔːls ˈnɛɡətɪv/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈfɒls ˈnɛɡətɪv/
  • General-American: /ˈfɔls ˈnɛɡətɪv/
  • General-American: /ˈfɑls ˈnɛɡətɪv/
  • General-American: /-ɾɪv/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A result of a test that shows as absent something that is present.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • While a false positive from a cancer screening test will unnecessarily frighten a healthy person, a false negative will deprive them of timely treatment.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A type II error (“accepting the null hypothesis when it is false”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: mathematics, sciences, statistics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

17 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 偽陰性 /伪阴性 (wèiyīnxìng) — result of a test that shows as absent something that is present
  • Chinese Mandarin: 假阴性 (jiǎyīnxìng) — result of a test that shows as absent something that is present
  • Finnish: väärä negatiivinen — result of a test that shows as absent something that is present
  • French: faux négatif — result of a test that shows as absent something that is present
  • Greek: ψευδώς αρνητικό (psevdós arnitikó) — result of a test that shows as absent something that is present
  • Hungarian: hamis negatív — result of a test that shows as absent something that is present
  • Icelandic: falsneikvæð — result of a test that shows as absent something that is present
  • Indonesian: hasil negatif palsu — result of a test that shows as absent something that is present
  • Irish: bréagdhiúltach — result of a test that shows as absent something that is present
  • Japanese: 偽陰性 — result of a test that shows as absent something that is present
  • Norwegian Bokmål: falsk negativ — result of a test that shows as absent something that is present
  • Norwegian Bokmål: falskt negativt resultat — result of a test that shows as absent something that is present
  • Polish: wynik fałszywie ujemny — result of a test that shows as absent something that is present
  • Portuguese: falso negativo — result of a test that shows as absent something that is present
  • Russian: ложноотрица́тельный результа́т (ložnootricátelʹnyj rezulʹtát) — result of a test that shows as absent something that is present
  • Serbo-Croatian: lažno negativan rezultat — result of a test that shows as absent something that is present
  • Spanish: falso negativo — result of a test that shows as absent something that is present