Definition of the word lie

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘lie.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

A lie is an assertion that is believed to be false, typically used with the purpose of deceiving or misleading someone.^[1][2][3] The practice of communicating lies is called lying. A person who communicates a lie may be termed a liar. Lies can be interpreted as deliberately false statements or misleading statements. Lies may also serve a variety of instrumental, interpersonal, or psychological functions for the individuals who use them.

Generally, the term «lie» carries a negative connotation, and depending on the context a person who communicates a lie may be subject to social, legal, religious, or criminal sanctions; for instance, perjury, or the act of lying under oath, can result in criminal and civil charges being pressed against the perjurer.

Although people in many cultures believe that deception can be detected by observing nonverbal behaviors (e.g. not making eye contact, fidgeting, stuttering) research indicates that people overestimate both the significance of such cues and their ability to make accurate judgements about deception.^[4][5] More generally, people’s ability to make true judgments is affected by biases towards accepting incoming information and interpreting feelings as evidence of truth. People do not always check incoming assertions against their memory.^[6]

Types and associated terms

• A barefaced, bald-faced or bold-faced lie is an impudent, brazen, shameless, flagrant, or audacious lie that is sometimes but not always undisguised and that it is even then not always obvious to those hearing it.^[7]
• A big lie is one that attempts to trick the victim into believing something major, which will likely be contradicted by some information the victim already possesses, or by their common sense. When the lie is of sufficient magnitude it may succeed, due to the victim’s reluctance to believe that an untruth on such a grand scale would indeed be concocted.^[8]
• A black lie is about simple and callous selfishness. They are usually told when others gain nothing, and the sole purpose is either to get oneself out of trouble (reducing harm against oneself), or to gain something one desires (increasing benefits for oneself).^{[9][better source needed]}
• A blue lie is a form of lying that is told purportedly to benefit a collective or «in the name of the collective good». The origin of the term «blue lie» is possibly from cases where police officers made false statements to protect the police force, or to ensure the success of a legal case against an accused.^[10] This differs from the blue wall of silence in that a blue lie is not an omission but a stated falsehood.^{[citation needed]}
• An April fool is a lie or hoax told/performed on April Fools’ Day.
• To bluff is to pretend to have a capability or intention one does not possess.^[8] Bluffing is an act of deception that is rarely seen as immoral when it takes place in the context of a game, such as poker, where this kind of deception is consented to in advance by the players. For instance, gamblers who deceive other players into thinking they have different cards to those they really hold, or athletes who hint that they will move left and then dodge right are not considered to be lying (also known as a feint or juke). In these situations, deception is acceptable and is commonly expected as a tactic.^{[citation needed]}
• Bullshit (also B.S., bullcrap, bull) does not necessarily have to be a complete fabrication. While a lie is related by a speaker who believes what is said is false, bullshit is offered by a speaker who does not care whether what is said is true because the speaker is more concerned with giving the hearer some impression. Thus, bullshit may be either true or false, but demonstrates a lack of concern for the truth that is likely to lead to falsehoods.^[11]

• A cover-up may be used to deny, defend, or obfuscate a lie, errors, embarrassing actions, or lifestyle, and/or lie(s) made previously.^[8] One may deny a lie made on a previous occasion, or alternatively, one may claim that a previous lie was not as egregious as it was. For example, to claim that a premeditated lie was really «only» an emergency lie, or to claim that a self-serving lie was really «only» a white lie or noble lie. This should not be confused with confirmation bias in which the deceiver is deceiving themselves.^{[citation needed]}
• Defamation is the communication of a false statement that harms the reputation of an individual person, business, product, group, government, religion, or nation.^[8]
• To deflect is to avoid the subject that the lie is about, not giving attention to the lie. When attention is given to the subject the lie is based around, deflectors ignore or refuse to respond. Skillful deflectors are passive-aggressive, who when confronted with the subject choose to ignore and not respond.^[12]
• Disinformation is intentionally false or misleading information that is spread in a calculated way to deceive target audiences.^[8]
• An exaggeration occurs when the most fundamental aspects of a statement are true, but only to a certain degree. It also is seen as «stretching the truth» or making something appear more powerful, meaningful, or real than it is. Saying that someone devoured most of something when they only ate half is considered an exaggeration. An exaggeration might be easily found to be a hyperbole where a person’s statement (i.e. in informal speech, such as «He did this one million times already!») is meant not to be understood literally.^[8]

• Fake news is supposed to be a type of yellow journalism that consists of deliberate misinformation or hoaxes spread via traditional print and broadcast news media or online social media.^[13] Sometimes the term is applied as a deceptive device to deflect attention from uncomfortable truths and facts.^{[citation needed]}
• A fib is a lie that is easy to forgive due to its subject being a trivial matter; for example, a child may tell a fib by claiming that the family dog broke a household vase, when the child was the one who broke it.^[8]
• Fraud refers to the act of inducing another person or people to believe a lie in order to secure material or financial gain for the liar. Depending on the context, fraud may subject the liar to civil or criminal penalties.^[14]
• A gray lie is told partly to help others and partly to help ourselves. It may vary in the shade of gray, depending on the balance of help and harm. Gray lies are, almost by definition, hard to clarify. For example you can lie to help a friend out of trouble but then gain the reciprocal benefit of them lying for you while those they have harmed in some way lose out.^{[9][better source needed]}
• A half-truth or partial truth is a deceptive statement that includes some element of truth. The statement might be partly true, the statement may be totally true, but only part of the whole truth, or it may employ some deceptive element, such as improper punctuation or double meaning, especially if the intent is to deceive, evade, blame, or misrepresent the truth.^[15] Partial truths are characterized by malicious intent, and therefore, honest people should not excuse them as containing a «rational kernel.»^[16]
• An honest lie (or confabulation) may be identified by verbal statements or actions that inaccurately describe the history, background, and present situations. There is generally no intent to misinform and the individual is unaware that their information is false. Because of this, it is not technically a lie at all since, by definition, there must be an intent to deceive for the statement to be considered a lie.^{[citation needed]}
• Jocose lies are lies meant in jest, intended to be understood as such by all present parties. Teasing and irony are examples. A more elaborate instance is seen in some storytelling traditions, where the storyteller’s insistence that the story is the absolute truth, despite all evidence to the contrary (i.e., tall tale), is considered humorous. There is debate about whether these are «real» lies, and different philosophers hold different views. The Crick Crack Club in London arranges a yearly «Grand Lying Contest» with the winner being awarded the coveted «Hodja Cup» (named for the Mulla Nasreddin: «The truth is something I have never spoken.»). The winner in 2010 was Hugh Lupton. In the United States, the Burlington Liars’ Club awards an annual title to the «World Champion Liar.»^[17]
• Lie-to-children is a phrase that describes a simplified explanation of technical or complex subjects as a teaching method for children and laypeople. While lies-to-children are useful in teaching complex subjects to people who are new to the concepts discussed, they can promote the creation of misconceptions among the people who listen to them. The phrase has been incorporated by academics within the fields of biology, evolution, bioinformatics, and the social sciences. Media use of the term has extended to publications including The Conversation and Forbes.^{[citation needed]}
• Lying by omission, also known as a continuing misrepresentation or quote mining, occurs when an important fact is left out in order to foster a misconception. Lying by omission includes the failure to correct pre-existing misconceptions. For example, when the seller of a car declares it has been serviced regularly, but does not mention that a fault was reported during the last service, the seller lies by omission. It may be compared to dissimulation. An omission is when a person tells most of the truth, but leaves out a few key facts that therefore, completely obscures the truth.^[12]

• Lying in trade occurs when the seller of a product or service may advertise untrue facts about the product or service in order to gain sales, especially by competitive advantage. Many countries and states have enacted consumer protection laws intended to combat such fraud.
• A memory hole is a mechanism for the alteration or disappearance of inconvenient or embarrassing documents, photographs, transcripts, or other records, such as from a website or other archive, particularly as part of an attempt to give the impression that something never happened.^[18][19]
• Minimization is the opposite of exaggeration. It is a type of deception^[20] involving denial coupled with rationalization in situations where complete denial is implausible.^{[citation needed]}
• Mutual deceit is a situation wherein lying is both accepted and expected^[21] or that the parties mutually accept the deceit in question. This can be demonstrated in the case of a poker game wherein the strategies rely on deception and bluffing to win.^[22]

• A noble lie, which also could be called a strategic untruth, is one that normally would cause discord if uncovered, but offers some benefit to the liar and assists in an orderly society, therefore, potentially being beneficial to others. It is often told to maintain law, order, and safety.
• Paltering is the active use of selective truthful statements to mislead.^[24]
• Paternalistic deception is a lie told because it is believed (possibly incorrectly) that the deceived person will benefit.
• In psychiatry, pathological lying (also called compulsive lying, pseudologia fantastica, and mythomania) is a behavior of habitual or compulsive lying.^[25][26] It was first described in the medical literature in 1891 by Anton Delbrueck.^[26] Although it is a controversial topic,^[26] pathological lying has been defined as «falsification entirely disproportionate to any discernible end in view, may be extensive and very complicated, and may manifest over a period of years or even a lifetime».^[25] The individual may be aware they are lying, or may believe they are telling the truth, being unaware that they are relating fantasies.^{[citation needed]}
• Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law, or in any of various sworn statements in writing. Perjury is a crime, because the witness has sworn to tell the truth and, for the credibility of the court to remain intact, witness testimony must be relied on as truthful.^[8]
• A polite lie is a lie that a politeness standard requires, and that usually is known to be untrue by both parties. Whether such lies are acceptable is heavily dependent on culture. A common polite lie in international etiquette may be to decline invitations because of «scheduling difficulties», or due to «diplomatic illness». Similarly, the butler lie is a small lie that usually is sent electronically and is used to terminate conversations or to save face.^[27]
• Puffery is an exaggerated claim typically found in advertising and publicity announcements, such as «the highest quality at the lowest price», or «always votes in the best interest of all the people». Such statements are unlikely to be true – but cannot be proven false and so, do not violate trade laws, especially as the consumer is expected to be able to determine that it is not the absolute truth.^[28]
• A red lie is about spite and revenge. It is driven by the motive to harm others even at the expense of harming oneself, out of an angry desire for retribution.^{[9][better source needed]}
• The phrase «speaking with a forked tongue» means to deliberately say one thing and mean another or, to be hypocritical, or act in a duplicitous manner. This phrase was adopted by Americans around the time of the Revolution, and may be found in abundant references from the early nineteenth century – often reporting on American officers who sought to convince the Indigenous peoples of the Americas with whom they negotiated that they «spoke with a straight and not with a forked tongue» (as for example, President Andrew Jackson told members of the Creek Nation in 1829).^[29] According to one 1859 account, the proverb that the «white man spoke with a forked tongue» originated in the 1690s, in the descriptions by the indigenous peoples of French colonials in America inviting members of the Iroquois Confederacy to attend a peace conference, but when the Iroquois arrived, the French had set an ambush and proceeded to slaughter and capture the Iroquois.^[30]
• Weasel word is an informal term^[31] for words and phrases aimed at creating an impression that a specific or meaningful statement has been made, when in fact only a vague or ambiguous claim has been communicated, enabling the specific meaning to be denied if the statement is challenged. A more formal term is equivocation.^{[citation needed]}
• A white lie is a harmless or trivial lie, especially one told in order to be polite or to avoid hurting someone’s feelings or stopping them from being upset by the truth.^[32][33][34] A white lie also is considered a lie to be used for greater good (pro-social behavior). It sometimes is used to shield someone from a hurtful or emotionally-damaging truth, especially when not knowing the truth is deemed by the liar as completely harmless.^{[citation needed]}
• Vranyo expresses white lies or half-lies in Russian culture, told without the intention of (maliciously) deceiving, but as a fantasy, suppressing unpleasant parts of the truth.^{[citation needed]}

Consequences

The potential consequences of lying are manifold; some in particular are worth considering. Typically lies aim to deceive, so the hearer may acquire a false belief (or at least something that the speaker believes to be false). When deception is unsuccessful, a lie may be discovered. The discovery of a lie may discredit other statements by the same speaker, thereby staining that speaker’s reputation. In some circumstances, it may also negatively affect the social or legal standing of the speaker. Lying in a court of law, for instance, is a criminal offense (perjury).^[35]

Hannah Arendt spoke about extraordinary cases in which an entire society is being lied to consistently. She said that the consequences of such lying are «not that you believe the lies, but rather that nobody believes anything any longer. This is because lies, by their very nature, have to be changed, and a lying government has constantly to rewrite its own history. On the receiving end you get not only one lie – a lie which you could go on for the rest of your days – but you get a great number of lies, depending on how the political wind blows.»^[36]

Detection

The question of whether lies can be detected reliably through nonverbal has been the subject of frequent study. While people in many cultures believe that deception can be indicated by behaviors such as looking away, fidgeting, or stammering, this is not supported by research.^[4][5] A 2019 review of research on deception and its detection through nonverbal behavior concludes that people tend to overestimate both the reliability of nonverbal behavior as an indicator of deception, and their ability to make accurate judgements about deception based on nonverbal behavior.^[4][37]

Polygraph «lie detector» machines measure the physiological stress a subject endures in a number of measures while giving statements or answering questions. Spikes in stress indicators are purported to reveal lying. The accuracy of this method is widely disputed. In several well-known cases, application of the technique has been shown to have given incorrect results.^{[examples needed]} Nonetheless, it remains in use in many areas, primarily as a method for eliciting confessions or employment screening. The unreliability of polygraph results is the basis of the exclusion of such evaluations as admissible evidence in many courts, and the technique is generally perceived to be an example of pseudoscience.^[38]

A recent study found that composing a lie takes longer than telling the truth and thus, the time taken to answer a question may be used as a method of lie detection.^[39] Instant answers with a lie may be proof of a prepared lie. A recommendation provided to resolve that contradiction is to try to surprise the subject and find a midway answer, not too quick, nor too long.^[40]

Ethics

Utilitarian philosophers have supported lies that achieve good outcomes – white lies.^[41] In his 2008 book, How to Make Good Decisions and Be Right All the Time, Iain King suggested a credible rule on lying was possible, and he defined it as: «Deceive only if you can change behaviour in a way worth more than the trust you would lose, were the deception discovered (whether the deception actually is exposed or not).»^[42]

Stanford Law professor Deborah L. Rhode articulated three rules she says ethicists generally agree distinguish «white lies» from harmful lies or cheating:^[43]

• A disinterested observer would conclude that the benefits outweigh the harms
• There is no alternative
• If everyone in similar circumstances acted similarly, society would be no worse off

Aristotle believed no general rule on lying was possible, because anyone who advocated lying could never be believed, he said.^[44] The philosophers St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Immanuel Kant, condemned all lying.^[41] According to all three, there are no circumstances in which, ethically, one may lie. Even if the only way to protect oneself is to lie, it is never ethically permissible to lie even in the face of murder, torture, or any other hardship. Each of these philosophers gave several arguments for the ethical basis against lying, all compatible with each other. Among the more important arguments are:

1. Lying is a perversion of the natural faculty of speech, the natural end of which is to communicate the thoughts of the speaker.
2. When one lies, one undermines trust in society.

In Lying, neuroscientist Sam Harris argues that lying is negative for the liar and the person who’s being lied to. To say lies is to deny others access to reality, and often we cannot anticipate how harmful lies can be. The ones we lie to may fail to solve problems they could have solved only on a basis of good information. To lie also harms oneself, makes the liar distrust the person who’s being lied to.^[45] Liars generally feel badly about their lies and sense a loss of sincerity, authenticity, and integrity. Harris asserts that honesty allows one to have deeper relationships and to bring all dysfunction in one’s life to the surface.

In Human, All Too Human, philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche suggested that those who refrain from lying may do so only because of the difficulty involved in maintaining lies. This is consistent with his general philosophy that divides (or ranks) people according to strength and ability; thus, some people tell the truth only out of weakness.

A study was conducted by the University of Nottingham, released in 2016, which utilized a dice roll test where participants could easily lie to get a bigger payout. The study found that in countries with high prevalence of rule breaking, dishonesty in people in their early 20s was more prevalent.^[46]

Great apes and mother birds

Possession of the capacity to lie among non-humans has been asserted during language studies with great apes. In one instance, the gorilla Koko, when asked who tore a sink from the wall, pointed to one of her handlers and then laughed.^[47]

Deceptive body language, such as feints that mislead as to the intended direction of attack or flight, is observed in many species. A mother bird deceives when she pretends to have a broken wing to divert the attention of a perceived predator – including unwitting humans – from the eggs in her nest, instead to her, as she draws the predator away from the location of the nest, most notably a trait of the killdeer.^[48]

Cultural references

• Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio is a wooden puppet character often led into trouble by his propensity to lie; his nose grows with every one. Hence, long noses have become a caricature of liars.
• The Boy Who Cried Wolf, a fable attributed to Aesop about a boy who continually lies that a wolf is coming. When a wolf does appear, nobody believes him anymore.
• A famous anecdote by Parson Weems claims that George Washington once cut at a cherry tree with a hatchet when he was a small child. His father asked him who cut the cherry tree and Washington confessed his crime with the words: «I’m sorry, father, I cannot tell a lie.»
• To Tell the Truth was the originator of a genre of game shows with three contestants claiming to be a person only one of them is.
• Glenn Kessler, a journalist at The Washington Post, awards one to four Pinocchios to politicians in his Washington Post Fact Checker blog.^[49]
• The cliché «All is fair in love and war»,^[50][51] asserts justification for lies used to gain advantage in these situations.
• Sun Tzu declared that «All warfare is based on deception.» Machiavelli advised in The Prince that a prince must hide his behaviors and become a «great liar and deceiver.»^[52]
• Thomas Hobbes wrote in Leviathan: «In war, force and fraud are the two cardinal virtues.»

• The concept of a memory hole was first popularized by George Orwell’s dystopian novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, where the Party’s Ministry of Truth systematically re-created all potential historical documents, in effect re-writing all of history to match the often-changing state propaganda. These changes were complete and undetectable.
• In the film Big Fat Liar, the story producer Marty Wolf (a notorious and proud liar) steals a story from student Jason Shepard, telling of a character whose lies become out of control to the point where each lie he tells causes him to grow in size.
• In the film Liar Liar, the lawyer Fletcher Reede (Jim Carrey) cannot lie for 24 hours, due to a wish of his son that magically came true.
• In the 1985 film Max Headroom, the title character comments that one can always tell when a politician lies because «their lips move». The joke has been widely repeated and rephrased.
• Larry-Boy! And the Fib from Outer Space! was a VeggieTales story of a crime-fighting super-hero with super-suction ears, having to stop an alien, calling himself «Fib», from destroying the town of Bumblyburg due to the lies that caused Fib to grow. Telling the truth is the moral to this story.
• Lie to Me is a television series based on behavior analysts who read lies through facial expressions and body language.
• The Invention of Lying is a 2009 movie depicting the fictitious invention of the first lie, starring Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, and Tina Fey.
• The Adventures of Baron Munchausen tell the story about an eighteenth-century baron who tells outrageous, unbelievable stories, all of which he claims are true.
• In the games Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto V, there’s an agency named FIB, a parody of the FBI, which is known to cover up stories, cooperate with criminals, and extract information with the use of lying.

Psychology

It is asserted that the capacity to lie is a talent human beings possess universally.^[53]

The evolutionary theory proposed by Darwin states that only the fittest will survive and by lying, we aim to improve other’s perception of our social image and status, capability, and desirability in general.^[54] Studies have shown that humans begin lying at a mere age of six months, through crying and laughing, to gain attention.^[55]

Scientific studies have shown differences in forms of lying across gender. Although men and women lie at equal frequencies, men are more likely to lie in order to please themselves while women are more likely to lie to please others.^[56] The presumption is that humans are individuals living in a world of competition and strict social norms, where they are able to use lies and deception to enhance chances of survival and reproduction.

Stereotypically speaking, David Livingstone Smith asserts that men like to exaggerate about their sexual expertise, but shy away from topics that degrade them while women understate their sexual expertise to make themselves more respectable and loyal in the eyes of men and avoid being labelled as a ‘scarlet woman’.^[56]

Those with Parkinson’s disease show difficulties in deceiving others, difficulties that link to prefrontal hypometabolism. This suggests a link between the capacity for dishonesty and integrity of prefrontal functioning.^[57]

Pseudologia fantastica is a term applied by psychiatrists to the behavior of habitual or compulsive lying. Mythomania is the condition where there is an excessive or abnormal propensity for lying and exaggerating.^[58]

A recent study found that composing a lie takes longer than telling the truth.^[40] Or, as Chief Joseph succinctly put it, «It does not require many words to speak the truth.»^[59]

Some people who are not convincing liars truly believe they are.^[60]

Religious perspectives

In the Bible

The Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible both contain statements that God cannot lie and that lying is immoral (Num. 23:19,^[61] Hab. 2:3,^[62] Heb. 6:13–18).^[63] Nevertheless, there are examples of God deliberately causing enemies to become disorientated and confused, in order to provide victory (2 Thess. 2:11;^[64][65] 1 Kings 22:23;^[66] Ezek. 14:9).^[67]

Various passages of the Bible feature exchanges that assert lying is immoral and wrong (Prov. 6:16–19; Ps. 5:6), (Lev. 19:11; Prov. 14:5; Prov. 30:6; Zeph. 3:13), (Isa. 28:15; Dan. 11:27), most famously, in the Ten Commandments: «Thou shalt not bear false witness» (Ex. 20:2–17; Deut. 5:6–21); Ex. 23:1; Matt. 19:18; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20 a specific reference to perjury.

Other passages feature descriptive (not prescriptive) exchanges where lying was committed in extreme circumstances involving life and death. Most Christian philosophers might argue that lying is never acceptable, but that even those who are righteous in God’s eyes sin sometimes. Old Testament accounts of lying include:^[68]

• The midwives lied about their inability to kill the Israelite children. (Ex. 1:15–21).
• Rahab lied to the king of Jericho about hiding the Hebrew spies (Josh. 2:4–5) and was not killed with those who were disobedient because of her faith (Heb. 11:31).
• Abraham instructed his wife, Sarah, to mislead the Egyptians and say that she is his sister (Gen. 12:10). Abraham’s story was strictly true – Sarah was his half sister – but intentionally misleading because it was designed to lead the Egyptians to believe that Sarah was not Abraham’s wife for Abraham feared that they would kill him in order to take her, for she was very beautiful.^[69]

In the New Testament, Jesus refers to the Devil as the father of lies (John 8:44) and Paul commands Christians «Do not lie to one another» (Col. 3:9; cf. Lev. 19:11). In the Day of Judgement, unrepentant liars will be punished in the lake of fire. (Rev. 21:8; 21:27).

Augustine’s taxonomy

Augustine of Hippo wrote two books about lying: On Lying (De Mendacio) and Against Lying (Contra Mendacio).^[70][71] He describes each book in his later work, Retractationes. Based on the location of De Mendacio in Retractationes, it appears to have been written about AD 395. The first work, On Lying, begins: «Magna quæstio est de Mendacio» («There is a great question about Lying»). From his text, it can be derived that St. Augustine divided lies into eight categories, listed in order of descending severity:

• Lies in religious teaching
• Lies that harm others and help no one
• Lies that harm others and help someone
• Lies told for the pleasure of lying
• Lies told to «please others in smooth discourse»
• Lies that harm no one and that help someone materially
• Lies that harm no one and that help someone spiritually
• Lies that harm no one and that protect someone from «bodily defilement»

Despite distinguishing between lies according to their external severity, Augustine maintains in both treatises that all lies, defined precisely as the external communication of what one does not hold to be internally true, are categorically sinful and therefore, ethically impermissible.^[72]

Augustine wrote that lies told in jest, or by someone who believes or opines the lie to be true are not, in fact, lies.^[73]

In Buddhism

The fourth of the five Buddhist precepts involves falsehood spoken or committed to by action.^[74] Avoiding other forms of wrong speech are also considered part of this precept, consisting of malicious speech, harsh speech, and gossip.^[75][76] A breach of the precept is considered more serious if the falsehood is motivated by an ulterior motive ^[74] (rather than, for example, «a small white lie»).^[77] The accompanying virtue is being honest and dependable,^[78][79] and involves honesty in work, truthfulness to others, loyalty to superiors, and gratitude to benefactors.^[80] In Buddhist texts, this precept is considered most important next to the first precept, because a lying person is regarded to have no shame, and therefore capable of many wrongs.^[81] Lying is not only to be avoided because it harms others, but also because it goes against the Buddhist ideal of finding the truth.^[77][82]

The fourth precept includes avoidance of lying and harmful speech.^[83] Some modern Buddhist teachers such as Thich Nhat Hanh interpret this to include avoiding spreading false news and uncertain information.^[81] Work that involves data manipulation, false advertising, or online scams can also be regarded as violations.^[84] Anthropologist Barend Terwiel [de] reports that among Thai Buddhists, the fourth precept also is seen to be broken when people insinuate, exaggerate, or speak abusively or deceitfully.^[85]

In Norse paganism

In Gestaþáttr, one of the sections within the Eddaic poem Hávamál, Odin states that it is advisable, when dealing with «a false foe who lies», to tell lies also.^[86]

In Zoroastrianism

Zoroaster teaches that there are two powers in the universe; Asha, which is truth, order, and that which is real, and Druj, which is «the Lie». Later on, the Lie became personified as Angra Mainyu, a figure similar to the Christian Devil, who was portrayed as the eternal opponent of Ahura Mazda (God).

Herodotus, in his mid-fifth-century BC account of Persian residents of the Pontus, reports that Persian youths, from their fifth year to their twentieth year, were instructed in three things – «to ride a horse, to draw a bow, and to speak the Truth».^[87] He further notes that:^[87] «The most disgraceful thing in the world [the Persians] think, is to tell a lie; the next worst, to owe a debt: because, among other reasons, the debtor is obliged to tell lies.»

In Achaemenid Persia, the lie, drauga (in Avestan: druj), is considered to be a cardinal sin and it was punishable by death in some extreme cases. Tablets discovered by archaeologists in the 1930s ^[88] at the site of Persepolis give us adequate evidence about the love and veneration for the culture of truth during the Achaemenian period. These tablets contain the names of ordinary Persians, mainly traders and warehouse-keepers.^[89] According to Stanley Insler of Yale University, as many as 72 names of officials and petty clerks found on these tablets contain the word truth.^[90] Thus, says Insler, we have Artapana, protector of truth, Artakama, lover of truth, Artamanah, truth-minded, Artafarnah, possessing splendour of truth, Artazusta, delighting in truth, Artastuna, pillar of truth, Artafrida, prospering the truth, and Artahunara, having nobility of truth.

It was Darius the Great who laid down the «ordinance of good regulations» during his reign. Darius’ testimony about his constant battle against the Lie is found in the Behistun Inscription. He testifies:^[91] «I was not a lie-follower, I was not a doer of wrong … According to righteousness I conducted myself. Neither to the weak or to the powerful did I do wrong. The man who cooperated with my house, him I rewarded well; who so did injury, him I punished well.»

He asks Ahuramazda, God, to protect the country from «a (hostile) army, from famine, from the Lie».^[92]

Darius had his hands full dealing with large-scale rebellion which broke out throughout the empire. After fighting successfully with nine traitors in a year, Darius records his battles against them for posterity and tells us how it was the Lie that made them rebel against the empire. At the Behistun inscription, Darius says: «I smote them and took prisoner nine kings. One was Gaumata by name, a Magian; he lied; thus he said: I am Smerdis, the son of Cyrus … One, Acina by name, an Elamite; he lied; thus he said: I am king in Elam … One, Nidintu-Bel by name, a Babylonian; he lied; thus he said: I am Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabonidus. … The Lie made them rebellious, so that these men deceived the people.»^[93] Then advice to his son Xerxes, who is to succeed him as the great king: «Thou who shalt be king hereafter, protect yourself vigorously from the Lie; the man who shall be a lie-follower, him do thou punish well, if thus thou shall think. May my country be secure!»^{[citation needed]}

See also

Citations

General and cited sources

Further reading

• Adler, J. E. «Lying, deceiving, or falsely implicating,» Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 94 (1997), 435–452.
• Aquinas, St. T. «Question 110: Lying,» in Summa Theologiae (II.II), Vol. 41, Virtues of Justice in the Human Community (London, 1972).
• Augustine, St. «On Lying» and «Against Lying,» in R.J. Deferrari, ed., Treatises on Various Subjects (New York, 1952).
• Bok, S. Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life, 2d ed. (New York, 1989).
• Carson, Thomas L. (2006). «The Definition of Lying». Noûs. 40 (2): 284–306. doi:10.1111/j.0029-4624.2006.00610.x. S2CID 143729366.
• Chisholm, R.M.; Feehan, T.D. (1977). «The intent to deceive». Journal of Philosophy. 74 (3): 143–159. doi:10.2307/2025605. JSTOR 2025605.
• Davids, P.H.; Bruce, F.F.; Brauch, M.T. & W.C. Kaiser, Hard Sayings of the Bible (InterVarsity Press, 1996).
• Denery, Dallas G. II. The Devil Wins: A History of Lying From the Garden of Eden to the Enlightenment (Princeton University Press; 2014) 352 pages; Uses religious, philosophical, literary and other sources in a study of lying from the perspectives of God, the Devil, theologians, courtiers, and women.
• Fallis, Don (2009). «What is Lying?». Journal of Philosophy. 106 (1): 29–56. doi:10.5840/jphil200910612. SSRN 1601034.
• Frankfurt, H.G. «The Faintest Passion,» in Necessity, Volition and Love (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999).
• Hausman, Carl, «Lies We Live By,» (New York: Routledge, 2000).
• Kant, I. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, The Metaphysics of Morals and «On a supposed right to lie from philanthropy,» in Immanuel Kant, Practical Philosophy, eds. Mary Gregor and Allen W. Wood (Cambridge: CUP, 1986).
• Lakoff, George, Don’t Think of an Elephant, (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2004).
• Leslie I. Born Liars: Why We Can’t Live Without Deceit (2011)
• Mahon, J.E. «Kant on Lies, Candour and Reticence,» Kantian Review, Vol. 7 (2003), 101–133.
• Mahon, J.E., «Lying,» Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd ed., Vol. 5 (Farmington Hills, MI: Macmillan Reference, 2006), 618–619.
• Mahon, J.E. «Kant and the Perfect Duty to Others Not to Lie,» British Journal for the History of Philosophy, Vol. 14, No. 4 (2006), 653–685.
• Mahon, J.E. «Kant and Maria von Herbert: Reticence vs. Deception,» Philosophy, Vol. 81, No. 3 (2006), 417–444.
• Mannison, D.S. «Lying and Lies,» Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 47 (1969), 132–144.
• Maugh II, Thomas H. (1 April 1991). «Science / Medicine : The Lies That Bind: Nearly All Species Deceive : Life: Deception is not only useful, experts say, it is often a necessity that allows organisms to survive». Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
• Mount, Ferdinand, «Ruthless and Truthless» (review of Peter Oborne, The Assault on Truth: Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and the Emergence of a New Moral Barbarism, Simon and Schuster, 2021, ISBN 978-1398501003, 192 pp.; and Colin Kidd and Jacqueline Rose, eds., Political Advice: Past, Present and Future, I.B. Tauris, 2021, ISBN 978-1838600044, 240 pp.), London Review of Books, vol. 43, no. 9 (6 May 2021), pp. 3, 5–8.
• Siegler, F.A. «Lying,» American Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. 3 (1966), 128–136.
• Sorensen, Roy (2007). «Bald-Faced Lies! Lying Without the Intent to Deceive». Pacific Philosophical Quarterly. 88 (2): 251–264. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0114.2007.00290.x.
• Stokke, Andreas (2013). «Lying and Asserting». Journal of Philosophy. 110 (1): 33–60. doi:10.5840/jphil2013110144. SSRN 1601034.
• Margaret Talbot (2007). «Duped. Can brain scans uncover lies?». The New Yorker, 2 July 2007.

External links

• Rines, George Edwin, ed. (1920). «Lie» . Encyclopedia Americana.

lie

rest in a horizontal position; recline

Not to be confused with:

lay – set down; place; past tense of lie

lei – a garland of flowers worn around the neck

Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree

lie ¹

 (lī)

intr.v. lay (lā), lain (lān), ly·ing (lī′ĭng), lies

1. To be or place oneself at rest in a flat, horizontal, or recumbent position; recline: He lay under a tree to sleep.

2. To be placed on or supported by a surface that is usually horizontal: Dirty dishes lay on the table. See Usage Note at lay¹.

3. To be or remain in a specified condition: The dust has lain undisturbed for years. He lay sick in bed.

4.

a. To exist; reside: Our sympathies lie with the plaintiff.

b. To consist or have as a basis. Often used with in: The strength of his performance lies in his training.

5. To occupy a position or place: The lake lies beyond this hill.

6. To extend: Our land lies between these trees and the river.

7. To be buried in a specified place.

8. Law To be admissible or maintainable.

9. Archaic To stay for a night or short while.

n.

1. The manner or position in which something is situated.

2. A haunt or hiding place of an animal.

3. Sports The position of a golf ball that has come to a stop.

Phrasal Verbs:

lie down

To do little or nothing: He’s lying down on the job.

lie in

To be in confinement for childbirth.

lie to Nautical

To remain stationary while facing the wind.

lie with

1. To be decided by, dependent on, or up to: The choice lies with you.

2. Archaic To have sexual intercourse with.

Idiom:

lielow

1. To keep oneself or one’s plans hidden.

2. To bide one’s time but remain ready for action.

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---

lie ²

 (lī)

n.

1. A false statement deliberately presented as being true; a falsehood.

2. Something meant to deceive or mistakenly accepted as true: learned his parents had been swindlers and felt his whole childhood had been a lie.

v. lied, ly·ing (lī′ĭng), lies

v.intr.

1. To present false information with the intention of deceiving.

2. To convey a false image or impression: Appearances often lie.

v.tr.

To say or write as a lie.

Idiom:

lie through (one’s) teeth

To lie outrageously or brazenly.

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Synonyms: lie², equivocate, fib, prevaricate
These verbs mean to evade or depart from the truth: a witness who lied under oath; didn’t equivocate about her real purpose; fibbed to escape being scolded; didn’t prevaricate but answered honestly.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

lie

(laɪ)

vb, lies, lying or lied

1. (intr) to speak untruthfully with intent to mislead or deceive

2. (intr) to convey a false impression or practise deception: the camera does not lie.

n

3. an untrue or deceptive statement deliberately used to mislead

4. something that is deliberately intended to deceive

5. give the lie to

a. to disprove

b. to accuse of lying

[Old English lyge (n), lēogan (vb); related to Old High German liogan, Gothic liugan]

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lie

(laɪ)

vb (intr) , lies, lying, lay (leɪ) or lain (leɪn)

1. (often foll by down) to place oneself or be in a prostrate position, horizontal to the ground

2. to be situated, esp on a horizontal surface: the pencil is lying on the desk; India lies to the south of Russia.

3. to be buried: here lies Jane Brown.

4. (copula) to be and remain (in a particular state or condition): to lie dormant.

5. to stretch or extend: the city lies before us.

6. (usually foll by: on or upon) to rest or weigh: my sins lie heavily on my mind.

7. (usually foll by in) to exist or consist inherently: strength lies in unity.

8. (foll by with)

a. to be or rest (with): the ultimate decision lies with you.

b. archaic to have sexual intercourse (with)

9. (of an action, claim, appeal, etc) to subsist; be maintainable or admissible

10. archaic to stay temporarily

11. lie in state See state¹³

12. lie low

a. to keep or be concealed or quiet

b. to wait for a favourable opportunity

n

13. the manner, place, or style in which something is situated

14. (Zoology) the hiding place or lair of an animal

15. (Golf) golf

a. the position of the ball after a shot: a bad lie.

b. the angle made by the shaft of the club before the upswing

16. lie of the land

a. the topography of the land

b. the way in which a situation is developing or people are behaving

[Old English licgan akin to Old High German ligen to lie, Latin lectus bed]

Usage: See at lay¹

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Lie

(liː)

n

(Biography) Trygve Halvdan (ˈtryɡvə ˈhalðan). 1896–1968, Norwegian statesman; first secretary-general of the United Nations (1946–52)

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

lie¹

(laɪ)

n., v. lied, ly•ing. n.

1. a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; a falsehood.

2. something intended or serving to convey a false impression; imposture.

3. the charge or accusation of lying: He flung the lie back at his accusers.

v.i.

4. to speak falsely or utter untruth knowingly, as with intent to deceive.

5. to express what is false; convey a false impression.

v.t.

6. to bring about or affect by lying (often used reflexively): to lie one’s way out of a difficulty.

Idioms:

1. give the lie to,

a. to accuse of lying.

b. to prove the untruthfulness of; belie.

2. lie through one’s teeth, to tell a brazen, vicious lie.

[before 900; (v.) Middle English; Old English lēogan, c. Old Saxon liogan, Old High German liogan, Old Norse ljūga, Gothic liugan]

lie²

(laɪ)

v. lay, lain, ly•ing,
n. v.i.

1. to be in or assume a horizontal, recumbent, or prostrate position, as on a bed or the ground; recline (often fol. by down).

2. (of objects) to rest in a horizontal or flat position: The book lies on the table.

3. to be or remain in a position or state of inactivity, subjection, restraint, concealment, etc.: to lie in ambush.

4. to rest, press, or weigh (usu. fol. by on or upon): These things lie upon my mind.

5. to be placed or situated: land lying along the coast.

6. to be stretched out or extended: the broad plain that lies before us.

7. to be in or have a specified direction; extend: The trail from here lies to the west.

8. to be found or located in a particular area or place: The fault lies here.

9. to consist or be grounded (usu. fol. by in): The real remedy lies in education.

10. to be buried in a particular spot.

11. Law. to be sustainable or admissible, as an action or appeal.

12. Archaic. to lodge; stay the night; sojourn.

13. lie in, to be confined to bed in childbirth.

14. lie over, to be or become postponed.

15. lie to, (of a ship) to lie comparatively stationary, usu. with the head as near the wind as possible.

16. lie with,

a. to be the duty or function of.

b. Archaic. to have sexual intercourse with.

n.

17. the manner, relative position, or direction in which something lies.

18. the haunt or covert of an animal.

19. Golf. the position of the ball relative to how easy or how difficult it is to play.

Idioms:

1. lie down on the job, Informal. to do less than one could or should do; shirk one’s obligations.

2. take lying down, to accept or capitulate to without remonstrance.

[before 900; Middle English lien, liggen, Old English licgan, c. Old Saxon liggian, Old High German liggen, Old Norse liggja]

usage: See lay¹.

Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

lay, lie — To lay is to place something; to lie is to recline.

See also related terms for lay.

Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.

lay

– lie

1. ‘lay’

Lay is a transitive verb, and it is also a past tense of another verb, lie.

To lay something somewhere means to put it there carefully or neatly.

Lay a sheet of newspaper on the floor.

The other forms of lay are lays, laying, laid.

Michael laid the box on the table gently.

‘I couldn’t get a taxi,’ she said, laying her hand on Nick’s sleeve.

2. ‘lie’

Lie is an intransitive verb with two different meanings.

To lie somewhere means to be there in a horizontal position, or to get into that position.

She would lie on the floor, listening to music.

When lie is used like this, its other forms are lies, lying, lay, lain. The -ed participle lain is rarely used.

The baby was lying on the table.

I lay in bed listening to the rain.

To lie means to say or write something which you know is untrue. When lie is used like this, its other forms are lies, lying, lied.

Why did he lie to me?

Robert was sure that Thomas was lying.

He had lied about where he had been that night.

Collins COBUILD English Usage © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 2004, 2011, 2012

lie

(to speak untruthfully)

Past participle: lied
Gerund: lying

Imperative
lie
lie

Present
I lie
you lie
he/she/it lies
we lie
you lie
they lie

Preterite
I lied
you lied
he/she/it lied
we lied
you lied
they lied

Present Continuous
I am lying
you are lying
he/she/it is lying
we are lying
you are lying
they are lying

Present Perfect
I have lied
you have lied
he/she/it has lied
we have lied
you have lied
they have lied

Past Continuous
I was lying
you were lying
he/she/it was lying
we were lying
you were lying
they were lying

Past Perfect
I had lied
you had lied
he/she/it had lied
we had lied
you had lied
they had lied

Future
I will lie
you will lie
he/she/it will lie
we will lie
you will lie
they will lie

Future Perfect
I will have lied
you will have lied
he/she/it will have lied
we will have lied
you will have lied
they will have lied

Future Continuous
I will be lying
you will be lying
he/she/it will be lying
we will be lying
you will be lying
they will be lying

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been lying
you have been lying
he/she/it has been lying
we have been lying
you have been lying
they have been lying

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been lying
you will have been lying
he/she/it will have been lying
we will have been lying
you will have been lying
they will have been lying

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been lying
you had been lying
he/she/it had been lying
we had been lying
you had been lying
they had been lying

Conditional
I would lie
you would lie
he/she/it would lie
we would lie
you would lie
they would lie

Past Conditional
I would have lied
you would have lied
he/she/it would have lied
we would have lied
you would have lied
they would have lied

---

lie

(to recline or be situated)

Past participle: lain
Gerund: lying

Imperative
lie
lie

Present
I lie
you lie
he/she/it lies
we lie
you lie
they lie

Preterite
I lay
you lay
he/she/it lay
we lay
you lay
they lay

Present Continuous
I am lying
you are lying
he/she/it is lying
we are lying
you are lying
they are lying

Present Perfect
I have lain
you have lain
he/she/it has lain
we have lain
you have lain
they have lain

Past Continuous
I was lying
you were lying
he/she/it was lying
we were lying
you were lying
they were lying

Past Perfect
I had lain
you had lain
he/she/it had lain
we had lain
you had lain
they had lain

Future
I will lie
you will lie
he/she/it will lie
we will lie
you will lie
they will lie

Future Perfect
I will have lain
you will have lain
he/she/it will have lain
we will have lain
you will have lain
they will have lain

Future Continuous
I will be lying
you will be lying
he/she/it will be lying
we will be lying
you will be lying
they will be lying

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been lying
you have been lying
he/she/it has been lying
we have been lying
you have been lying
they have been lying

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been lying
you will have been lying
he/she/it will have been lying
we will have been lying
you will have been lying
they will have been lying

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been lying
you had been lying
he/she/it had been lying
we had been lying
you had been lying
they had been lying

Conditional
I would lie
you would lie
he/she/it would lie
we would lie
you would lie
they would lie

Past Conditional
I would have lain
you would have lain
he/she/it would have lain
we would have lain
you would have lain
they would have lain

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

lie

The position in which the ball lies on the course after a stroke.

Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Translations

Lie is one of the more common words found in the English language. It has multiple definitions, making it a flexible word with uses in all sorts of situations. 

Because of its multiple definitions, the word can also be a little bit confusing at times. We’ll break down the definitions of the word lie so you can be confident that you know which one is being used and when. 

By the end of this short guide, you’ll have a solid understanding of the word lie, its definitions, its etymology, and how to use it in various contexts.

What Is the Meaning of the Word Lie?

This word’s definitions are fairly simple, and many of them are pretty similar to each other. Here are the definitions of the word lie, pronounced laɪ. Its present participle is “lying.”

Verb

• To move to or be in a horizontal position

Verb

• To be in a particular place

Noun 

• The position, direction, or place in which something is placed 

Noun or verb

• A false statement that is made to deceive someone
• The act of saying something that will deceive someone

The first definition simply refers to a particular state that we get in every day. We can lie down and go to sleep at night, we can lay the wooden spoon in a flat position on the counter, and we can watch a dog as he lies in the sun in the backyard. 

The word lie can also simply refer to the act of being in a place. A town can lie between a river and the mountains, or you could leave your keys lying around the house somewhere. 

The word lie can also be a noun that refers to how something is positioned. This is commonly used in golf. The lie of the ball refers to where it fell on the course and how difficult it will be to proceed, whether in the fairway, in the rough, or somewhere else. 

Perhaps the most well-known definition of the word lie refers to deceit or untruth. This can be both a noun and a verb, and it refers to the act of deceiving a person with words that are not true. 

An Uncommon Definitions

One common idiom and phrasal verb that uses the word lie is the phrase “to lie with.” To lie with somebody means to have sexual intercourse with them. This phrase isn’t used very often anymore, but it does show up in a lot of historic literature. 

The Word Lie in Other Languages

Here’s a list of the translations of the word lie in various other languages. 

• Spanish: mentira
• Portuguese: mentira
• German: lüge, lügen
• Danish: ligge, løgn, lyve
• Swedish: ljuga
• Norwegian: ligge
• Russian: лгать
• Italian: menzogna
• French: mentir 

Where Did the Word Lie Come From?

To help clarify the definition of the word lie, let’s look at the history of how it came to be or its etymology. There are two slightly different etymologies for this word, one for the deception definition and one for the position-related definition.

The Position

First, let’s talk about the position definition. The word lie is one of those fundamentally basic words that have been used in some way for so long that it is difficult to pinpoint its exact origin. What we do know is that its oldest ancestor is some Indo-European root legh- that existed even before Latin and Greek. 

The word lie came from the ancient Germanic languages and eventually found its way into Old English in the word licgan in about the 12th century. Again, this comes from the root legh-, which also made its way into several other Germanic languages around that time. 

There’s the Dutch liggen, the Old High German liegen or lekhos, the Gothic liugan, and the Old Norse liggja, all meaning “to be in a horizontal position.” There was also the Latin lectus, which means “bed.” All of these are related to the word lie. 

The Old English licgan eventually evolved through the Middle English period, and now we have the word lie today. 

A Deception

When it comes to deception, the history is similar but has some slightly different ancestors in Old English. The Old English ancestors for this definition of lie are legan, ligan, and leogan. 

The particular history of this word is actually shrouded in a bit of mystery, as it does not show up in Latin, Greek, or even Sanskrit. 

What Are Some Examples of the Word Lie in a Sentence?

Seeing a word in context can help explore its definition and show how you can use it in your own life. Here are some example sentences that use the word lie.

With all of your fibs and lies, it’s just safer for me to assume that nothing you say is true. 

I don’t know what the big deal is. It’s just a little white lie, not a major deception. 

I had to take a lie detector test when giving my testimony to the police. 

Grandpa doesn’t do much, he just lies around in that reclining position all day long. 

I’m not feeling well, so I think I’m going to go lie down for a minute. 

If I just sit back and recline, I can’t fall asleep. I have to lie down all the way. 

My favorite town lies just beneath the massive peaks of the Rocky Mountains. 

We need to lie low for a little while until all this drama blows over.

I can’t believe that my best friend would lie with my husband after all that we’ve been through! 

Let me check the lie of the land before we move forward. 

I hit the ball right in the middle of the fairway, so it looks like it has a great lie. 

What Are the Synonyms of the Word Lie?

Here are some synonyms of the word lie that you might find in a thesaurus.

• Deception
• Falsification
• Untruth
• Perjury
• Prevarication
• Fabrication
• Falsehood
• Recline
• Sprawl
• To belong
• To beset
• To occupy

What Are its Antonyms?

Here are antonyms of the word lie.

• Stand
• To be upright
• Truth
• nonfiction

The Word Lie

Now you know everything you need to know about the word lie, its definition, its history, and how to use it. Use it confidently in your writing and your conversation!

Sources

LIE | Cambridge English Dictionary 

LIE | Meaning & Definition for UK English | Lexico

White lie | World Wide Words