false flag

Fetched 2026-10-26 (cache).

Synonyms: false flax, false-flag, false flat, false leg

Antonyms: false flax, false-flag, false flat, false leg

Related words from Datamuse; suggestions, not definitions.

Noun

1. {{lb|en|nautical}} A [[ruse]], in the days of sail, in which an attacking ship would fly the colours of its [[enemy]] until close enough to open fire.
2. {{lb|en|espionage|military|politics}} A [[diversionary]] or [[propaganda]] [[tactic]] of [[deceive|deceiving]] an [[adversary]] into thinking that an [[operation]] was [[carry out|carried out]] by another [[party]].

Verb

1. {{lb|en|informal|transitive}} To [[target]] someone or something with a [[#Noun|false flag]] or [[ruse]].

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wiktionary dump) · cached copy, not a rewrite.