FALSEPOSITIVE

false positive

Noun

  1. A result of a test that shows as present something that is absent.
    A false positive from a cancer screening test will unnecessarily frighten a healthy person, a false negative will deprive them of timely treatment.
    A false positive can be returned on a password checking algorithm when the password is tested against a dictionary but the password does not contain a dictionary word.
  2. type I error


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: false positive
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

Need help with a clue?
Try your search in the crossword dictionary!