factoid

Meaning

Noun

• An inaccurate statement or statistic believed to be true because of broad repetition, especially if cited in the media.
• An interesting item of trivia; a minor fact.

Origin

• From fact + -oid; in Marilyn: A Biography, defined as "facts which have no existence before appearing in a magazine or newspaper, creations which are not so much lies as a product to manipulate emotion in the Silent Majority".