truther

English

Alternative forms

• troofer (slang, derogatory, pronunciation spelling)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹuθɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹuːθə/
• Hyphenation: truth‧er

Noun

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

• conspiracy theorist
• conspirophile

Derived terms

• trutherism

See also

• anti-vaxxer
• birther
• deather
• denier
• flat-earther
• occupier
• prepper

Further reading

• 9/11 Truth movement on Wikipedia.Wikipedia