Apocryphal

Etymology
From Late Latin apocryphus secret, not approved for public reading, from Greek apokryphos hidden, obscure, thus (books) of unknown authorship (especially those included in the Septuagint and Vulgate but not originally written in Hebrew and not counted as genuine by the Jews), from apo- away + kryptein to hide. Properly plural (the single would be apocryphon), but commonly treated as a collective singular. Apocryphal of doubtful authenticity is from 1590.

Adjective

 * Of, or pertaining to, the Apocrypha.
 * 1) Of doubtful authenticity, or lacking authority; not regarded as canonical.
 * Many scholars consider the stories of the monk Teilo to be apocryphal.
 * 1) Of dubious veracity; of questionable accuracy or truthfulness; anecdotal or in the nature of an urban legend.
 * There is an apocryphal tale of a little boy plugging the dike with his finger.

Related terms

 * Apocrypha
 * apocryphalist


 * apocryphally
 * apocryphalness

Thesaurus
Albigensian; Arian; Catharist; Donatist; Ebionitist; Erastian; Gnostic; Jansenist; Jansenistic; Jovinianist; Jovinianistic; Lollard; Manichaean; Monophysite; Monophysitic; Montanist; Montanistic; Pelagian; Sabellian; Waldensian; Wyclifite; affected; antinomian; artificial; assumed; bastard; bogus; brummagem; colorable; colored; counterfeit; counterfeited; distorted; doubtful; dressed up; dubious; dummy; emanationist; embellished; embroidered; erroneous; ersatz; factitious; fake; faked; fallacious; false; falsified; feigned; fictitious; fictive; garbled; heretical; heterodox; hylotheist; hylotheistic; illegitimate; imitation; inaccurate; incorrect; junky; make-believe; man-made; mock; nonofficial; nonorthodox; open to question; pantheist; pantheistic; perverted; phony; pinchbeck; pretended; pseudo; put-on; quasi; queer; questionable; self-styled; sham; shoddy; simulated; so-called; soi-disant; spurious; supposititious; synthetic; tin; tinsel; titivated; twisted; unaccepted; unapproved; unattested; unauthentic; unauthenticated; unauthoritative; uncanonical; uncertified; unchecked; unconfirmed; uncorroborated; undemonstrated; ungenuine; unnatural; unofficial; unorthodox; unproved; unreal; unscriptural; unsound; untrue; unvalidated; unverified; unwarranted; warped; wrong

Translations

 * Bulgarian: апокрифен
 * Chinese: 杜撰的
 * Croatian:
 * Dutch:
 * Esperanto:
 * Finnish:
 * French:


 * German:
 * Icelandic: vafasamur að uppruna, vafasamur, af vafasömum uppruna, apókrýfur
 * Italian:
 * Japanese: 典拠が疑わしい, うその
 * Portuguese:
 * Spanish:


 * Bulgarian: недостоверен, съмнителен