lie
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /laɪ̯/
rhymes: -aɪ
homophone: lye
homophone: lai
homophone: Leigh (some placenames)
Forms: form: lies
Etymology: From Middle English lie, from Old English lyġe (“lie, falsehood”), from Proto-Germanic *lugiz (“lie, falsehood”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewgʰ- (“to tell lies, swear, complain”). Cognate with Old Saxon luggi (“a lie”), Old High German lugī, lugin (“a lie”) (German Lüge), Danish løgn (“a lie”), Bulgarian лъжа́ (lǎžá, “а lie”), Russian ложь (ložʹ, “а lie”), Czech lež (“a lie”), Middle Polish łeż (“a lie”), Serbo-Croatian laž (“a lie”).
Senses: examples: text: I knew he was telling a lie by his facial expression.
text: Man everywhere is the born enemy of lies.
ref: 1840 May 5, Thomas Carlyle, “Lecture I. The Hero as Divinity. Odin. Paganism: Scandinavian Mythology.”, in On Heroes, Hero-Worship and The Heroic in History, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1840, →OCLC, page 4:
synonyms: alternative fact
deception
fabrication
falsehood
fib
leasing
nonsense
prevarication
tall tale
whopper
antonyms: truth
glosses: An intentionally false statement; an intentional falsehood.
synonyms: half-truth
glosses: A statement intended to deceive, even if literally true.
examples: text: Wishing this lie of life was o'er.
ref: 1835, Richard Chenevix Trench, the Story of Justin Martyr:
text: The cake is a lie.
ref: 2007, Erik Wolpaw, Chet Faliszek, Portal:
glosses: Anything that misleads or disappoints.
qualifier: African-American Vernacular
glosses: A liar; a dishonest person.
Synonyms: word: alternative fact
word: anti-fact
word: invention
word: bluff
word: bollocks
word: bullshit
word: canard
word: cap
word: chin
word: clanker
word: contradiction
word: cram
word: disinformation
word: fabrication
word: falsehood
word: falsification
word: fib
word: flam
word: goof
word: hoax
word: hummer
word: inveracity
word: inverity
word: jive
word: lie
word: mendacity
word: misinformation
word: mistruth
word: nonsense
word: nontruth
word: pork pie
word: porker
word: porky
word: prevarication
word: red flag
word: rubbish
word: story
word: swack-up
word: tall tale
word: terminological inexactitude
word: untruism
word: untruth
word: whopper
word: wisker
word: yanker
word: yed
Hyponyms: word: barefaced lie
word: big lie
word: butler lie
word: contextomy
word: half-truth
word: fake news
word: noble lie
word: obfuscation
word: white lie
Meronyms: word: deception
word: pack of lies
word: perjury
Derived terms: a lie can run around the world before the truth can get its boots on
a lie has no legs
barefaced lie
belie
big lie
blue lie
butler lie
give lie to
give one the lie in one's throat
give someone the lie in their throat
give the lie
give the lie to
I'm telling a lie
I tell a lie
lie bump
lie detection
lie detector
lie like a rug
Lienux
lies beget more lies
little white lie
live a lie
noble lie
no word of a lie
pack of lies
put lie to
put the lie to
put to lie
self-lie
sex, lies and videotape
the cake is a lie
where's the lie
white lie
without a word of a lie
zombie lie
Related terms: word: the cake is a lie
word: cry wolf
word: give the lie to
word: a lie has no legs
word: lie through one's teeth
word: I tell a lie
word: decoy
word: fake
word: imitate