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
Harvard Health LetterThe quarantine could be lifted early if the lab confirms that the case was a false positive.—Kathleen Moore
Kathleen MoorePerhaps more important, polygraph tests are notoriously unreliable. Scientists are understandably concerned about false positive results …—Chemical & Engineering News
—often hyphenated when used before another nounChemical & Engineering NewsThe 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
Laurie TarkenExamples of false positive in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
This helps reduce false positives, which have long been a plague for compliance teams.
—Roman Eloshvili, Forbes.com, 24 July 2025
Dershowitz argues that the risk of harm from false positives should be balanced against the risk of harm from false negatives in deciding whether to initiate preemptive warfare.
—Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 24 July 2025
And in 2022 and again in 2023, state inspectors general found that state prison officials had improperly charged hundreds of inmates based on false positives.
—Graham Rayman, New York Daily News, 3 July 2025
Video Biden's cancer diagnosis puts his legacy in the spotlight
The older a person is, the more the risk of false positives and unnecessary biopsies increases.
—Averi Harper, ABC News, 20 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for false positive
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Roman Eloshvili, Forbes.com, 24 July 2025
Dershowitz argues that the risk of harm from false positives should be balanced against the risk of harm from false negatives in deciding whether to initiate preemptive warfare.
—Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 24 July 2025
And in 2022 and again in 2023, state inspectors general found that state prison officials had improperly charged hundreds of inmates based on false positives.
—Graham Rayman, New York Daily News, 3 July 2025
Video Biden's cancer diagnosis puts his legacy in the spotlight
The older a person is, the more the risk of false positives and unnecessary biopsies increases.
—Averi Harper, ABC News, 20 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for false positive
Cite this Entry
“False positive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/false%20positive. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical 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 Journal of the American Medical AssociationThe 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 nounBiff F. Palmer, Scientific American Medicine… false-positive results that led healthy women to have unnecessary surgery.—Denise Grady, The New York Times
Denise Grady, The New York TimesThe 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
Marilyn Chase, The Wall Street JournalLove words? Need even more definitions?
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