Wiktionary

truther

English edit

Alternative forms edit

  • troofer (slang, derogatory, pronunciation spelling)

Etymology edit

From truth +‎ -er (occupational suffix) or +‎ -er (“supporter”). For sense 2, directly from name of the 9/11 Truth movement.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

truther (plural truthers)

  1. (US, colloquial) Someone who tells the truth. [from 20th c.]
    • 1915 July 14, Daily Leader:
      A liar can't begin to start the riots a truther can.
  2. (colloquial, chiefly US) Someone who believes that the US government was responsible for the 9/11 attacks. [from 21st c.]
    • 2005 February 14, "Gold9472", “BREAKING NEWS: Dick Cheney Behind 9/11 Attacks - MUST READ - PLEASE”, in talk.politics.theory‎[1] (Usenet), retrieved 2019-01-29, message-ID <b3feba8653cd9959ed2080c10a1ed1d0@localhost.talkaboutgovernment.com>:
      [signed] 9/11 Truther
    • 2006, George Washington, Social Proof, George Washington's Blog, 26 May:
      Therefore, virtually every press release or statement about 9/11 should include a reference to the poll to show people that many Americans are 9/11 truthers who scoff at the 9/11 Commission as a fraud and that demand a real 9/11 investigation.
    • 2009 September 20, David Ignatius, “Reading Iran by the Letter”, in The Washington Post:
      The Iranian president is even a "truther," insisting that there was a hidden hand behind Sept. 11, 2001. "Could it be planned and executed without coordination with intelligence and security services — or their extensive infiltration?" he mused in the letter to Bush.
  3. (by extension) A conspiracy theorist who does not believe the accepted story about some significant event, fact, etc. [from 21st c.]
    • 2013, D. Wittkower, Philip K. Dick and Philosophy:
      For instance, "truthers" who believe in a US government conspiracy to destroy the pentagon
    • 2014, Lori Badura, Tell It Like It Isn't, page 226:
      Rather, believers of this conspiracy theory (known as Sandy Hook “truthers”) propose that the entire event might have been staged by Homeland Security and FEMA
    • 2014, Ralph Cinque, “A review of the trailer of James Lambert's new film”, in alt.assassination.jfk (Usenet):
      I am calling your attention to it because I think that we JFK truthers may be able to use this film to our advantage.

Hypernyms edit

Derived terms edit

See also edit

Further reading edit

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