Well-read · Science & thinking · Philosophy & belief
Falsifiable: meaning, pronunciation and examples
Falsifiable adjective. Able, at least in principle, to be shown false by some observation or test.
How to say it
FAWL-sih-fy-uh-bul/ˈfɔːlsɪfʌɪəb(ə)l/
5 syllables, stressed on the first (FAWL).
Falsifiable in a sentence
“Everything happens for a reason” isn’t falsifiable, so it isn’t a scientific claim.
Karl Popper argued that a good scientific theory must be falsifiable.
Similar and opposite
Similar:
- testable
- refutable
- disprovable
Opposite:
- unfalsifiable
Where falsifiable comes from
From falsify, from Latin falsus, false; the philosopher Karl Popper made the idea central to science.
Test yourself
Which word fills the gap?
Karl Popper argued that a good scientific theory must be _____.
- falsifiable
- fluvial
- orthogonal
Show the answer
falsifiable: Karl Popper argued that a good scientific theory must be falsifiable.