noun

FP

ef-PEE

FP (noun) means a false positive: a test, filter or detector result that wrongly indicates something is present when it is not. Example: “The scanner flagged 200 files, but most were FPs.”

noun

technical A false positive: a test, filter or detector result that wrongly indicates something is present when it is not.

"The scanner flagged 200 files, but most were FPs."

"Tightening the threshold cut the FP rate in half."

Family planning: services, advice and contraception that help people decide whether and when to have children.

"The FP clinic offers free contraception and counselling."

technical Freezing point: the temperature at which a liquid becomes solid.

"The solvent has an FP of −95°C."

How to Use FP

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishFP is short for a few things, most often a false positive — an alarm that turns out to be wrong.

When to use it

Written in capitals without full stops. Always spell it out on first use in a document, since the expansions are unrelated.

Memory tip

In testing and machine learning, FP pairs with FN (false negative), TP (true positive) and TN (true negative).

Trace the full origin ↓

Easily confused with

FN TP → FPS

Common pairings

FP rate reduce FPs FP clinic FP services

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Fill the Gap

Can you complete this real example?

The scanner flagged 200 files, but most were _____.

Etymology

An initialism, expanding differently by field — false positive, family planning or freezing point.

Origin: English

Synonyms

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false positive family planning freezing point

Antonyms

FN false negative

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between FP and FN?

An FP, or false positive, is a wrong alarm: the test says yes when the answer is no. An FN, or false negative, is a miss: the test says no when the answer is yes. Tuning a system to reduce one usually increases the other.

What is an FP rate?

The false positive rate is the proportion of genuinely negative cases that a test wrongly flags as positive. A spam filter with a 1% FP rate sends one legitimate email in a hundred to the junk folder.

Featured In

Vocabulary lists that include FP:

Words That End With P