false alarm
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.12 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
1
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A warning signal (such as the call of sentry, the ringing of a bell, or the shriek of a siren) which turns out to have been given erroneously.
noun
A thing or occurrence which initially causes fear, distress, etc. but which is subsequently recognized as being no cause for concern.
noun
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.
Archaic
Example Sentences
- ""Then, if they rise, shout the alarm at the top of your voice [...] but be careful not to rouse the camp by a false alarm, for if you do, instead of gaining credit we shall become the jest of the whole force.""
- "Pistorius explained that a security alarm in his house had gone off the previous night, and that he had taken a gun downstairs to investigate what turned out to be a false alarm."
- ""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."