false positive

noun

plural false positives
: a person or test result that is incorrectly classified as positive (as for the presence of a health condition) because of imperfect testing methods or procedures
A false positive—a test result indicative of disease that isn't actually present—can trigger a chain reaction of worry, further tests, and even unnecessary treatment.Harvard Health Letter
The quarantine could be lifted early if the lab confirms that the case was a false positive.Kathleen Moore
Perhaps more important, polygraph tests are notoriously unreliable. Scientists are understandably concerned about false positive results …Chemical & Engineering News
often hyphenated when used before another noun
The technology could improve a radiologist's ability to detect breast cancers and it could lower the number of false-positive results …Laurie Tarken
compare false negative

Examples of false positive in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
But with detection software comes risk of false positives — and the resulting misconduct processes can drag on for weeks or months. Rachel Hale, USA TODAY, 24 Jan. 2025 This will require collaboration across the enterprise where data owners play a key role in either remediating the sensitive data or classifying them as false positives. Anil Kumar Moka, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025 The motion detection is quite good, with minimal false positives, and the camera recognizes humans and vehicles reasonably accurately. Simon Hill, WIRED, 3 Jan. 2025 There is hope that AI tools may eventually be able to reduce the workload on doctors involved in diagnosing cancers, as well as improving the accuracy and reducing false positives. Victoria Forster, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for false positive 

Word History

First Known Use

1912, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of false positive was in 1912

Dictionary Entries Near false positive

Cite this Entry

“False positive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/false%20positive. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.

Medical Definition

false positive

noun
: a person or test result that is incorrectly classified as positive (as for the presence of a health condition) because of imperfect testing methods or procedures
Another problem with the test … is that it also produces a number of false positives; that is, a number of neonates with elevated trypsin levels the first time they are tested are found not to have elevated levels on the second test.The Journal of the American Medical Association
The urine dipstick test for protein can give false positive results when various pharmacologic agents and gross hematuria are present or when urine pH is high …Biff F. Palmer, Scientific American Medicine
often hyphenated when used before another noun
false-positive results that led healthy women to have unnecessary surgery.Denise Grady, The New York Times
The test can give false-positive readings, however, and it triggers a follow-up colonoscopy in 4% to 10% of cases.Marilyn Chase, The Wall Street Journal
compare false negative
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!