Words / C / General

canard

noun/kæˈnɑːd/

C2CEFR level
78/100Rarity: rare
FormalRegister

A false or baseless rumour or story, often deliberately spread.

The claim that the treaty bankrupted the nation is a persistent canard.

Similar: hoax, fabrication, rumour

Origin: From French canard 'duck', from an old phrase for a false report.

Topic: falsehood in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More general words: falsehood