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false equivalence

treating two very different things as equal

In From the Opinion Pages

In more detail

A logical fallacy in which two things are presented as equally valid or comparable when they are actually very different in important ways; the mistake of treating unrelated or unequal things as if they were the same.

Examples

• Saying that eating one candy is the same as eating a whole cake is a false equivalence—the amounts are completely different.
• The politician committed a false equivalence by comparing a minor mistake to a serious crime.

How to use false equivalence

False equivalence is used in formal argumentation and debate to identify a logical flaw where two things are wrongly treated as comparable despite having significant differences. It is common in political discourse, academic writing, and critical analysis when someone wishes to critique faulty reasoning.

Register: formal

Common phrases

• commit a false equivalence
• point out a false equivalence
• false equivalence between X and Y
• fall into false equivalence
• the false equivalence fallacy

Synonyms

false comparison · faulty analogy · apples and oranges · misleading parallel · wrongful equation

Word family

equivalence (noun) · equivalent (adjective/noun) · equivalently (adverb)

A common mistake

Learners sometimes use 'false equivalence' to mean any comparison they disagree with, rather than specifically comparing things that are fundamentally unequal in relevant respects.

Nearby in From the Opinion Pages

intransigent, dog whistle, whataboutism, straw man, gaslighting, virtue signaling

Keep going

How to remember the words you read · Spaced repetition, explained