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
The problem is, if abnormal DNA is detected, a colonoscopy is required to confirm the finding—and with a false positive rate of about 14% for home tests, people may wind up having the more invasive procedure anyway.
—Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 15 Aug. 2024
Unfortunately, these are all vital signs that are affected by all manner of factors, making these devices vulnerable to detecting false positives.
—Tom Hawking, Popular Science, 14 Aug. 2024
But while detection techniques continue to evolve, these kinds of tools are generally based on unproven theories that haven't been shown to be reliable in any broad studies, making the prospect of false positives/negatives a real risk.
—Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica, 12 Aug. 2024
With a 10% false positive rate, that means that more people had a false positive than a true result, Hochster said.
—Claire Bugos, Verywell Health, 2 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for false positive 
Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 15 Aug. 2024
Unfortunately, these are all vital signs that are affected by all manner of factors, making these devices vulnerable to detecting false positives.
—Tom Hawking, Popular Science, 14 Aug. 2024
But while detection techniques continue to evolve, these kinds of tools are generally based on unproven theories that haven't been shown to be reliable in any broad studies, making the prospect of false positives/negatives a real risk.
—Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica, 12 Aug. 2024
With a 10% false positive rate, that means that more people had a false positive than a true result, Hochster said.
—Claire Bugos, Verywell Health, 2 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for false positive
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Cite this Entry
“False positive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/false%20positive. Accessed 12 Sep. 2024.
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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