Definition
A thing or occurrence which initially causes fear, distress, etc. but which is subsequently recognized as being no cause for concern.
A person who pretends to be more accomplished or a thing that seems to be of higher quality than is later found to be the case.
In Context
- ""This may be a false alarm, or a forged letter," said De Bracy."
- "The terrible announcement that the baby had been taken in the act of putting a doll's frying-pan into his mouth, and was more than suspected of having swallowed a fictitious turkey, glued on a wooden platter! The immense relief of finding this a false alarm!"
- "Cuthbert had often been summoned to her dying bed, only to find that she was alive and well. He expected that this summons would be another false alarm."
- "Robert Swanson [...] expected civilization to melt down on Jan. 1, 2000 [...] He's not sure yet that Y2K was a false alarm."
- ""I don't believe you're a bank robber, at all! I don't believe you are even a rustler! You're a false alarm!""
- ""He's an old false alarm, anyway. I'll bet he never heard a real gun go off!""
- ""I had a good job, putting in a power plant for his nibs"—he indicated the retreating Gordon with a disrespectful jerk of the thumb—"but I quit [...] Do you think I'd work for this four-flusher if you were in the country?" [...] "You think Gordon is a false alarm?""
- ""I only came over here to see that darned false alarm of a play of mine put on.""
Opposite In Meaning
See Also
- false positive