What is an untrue statement or the act of lying called?
Asked by: Katharina Farrell | Last update: December 24, 2025Score: 4.9/5 (60 votes)
Lie: Deliberate misstatement intended to deceive. Misinformation: Inaccurate information spread without the intent to deceive. Disinformation: Misinformation spread with the intent to deceive and manipulate opinions.
What is the act of lying called?
the deliberate act of deviating from the truth. synonyms: fabrication, prevarication. types: fibbing, paltering.
What is it called when you say something that's not true?
The most common word for this is lie. Lie can be used to describe just one statement, or a pattern of behaviour that a person has.
What is a word for lying not telling the truth?
Some common synonyms of lie are equivocate, fib, palter, and prevaricate. While all these words mean "to tell an untruth," lie is the blunt term, imputing dishonesty. lied about where he had been. When could equivocate be used to replace lie? The words equivocate and lie are synonyms, but do differ in nuance.
What is another word for deceitful act?
Some common synonyms of deceitful are dishonest, mendacious, and untruthful. While all these words mean "unworthy of trust or belief," deceitful usually implies an intent to mislead and commonly suggests a false appearance or double-dealing.
The language of lying — Noah Zandan
What is the act of deliberately misleading someone called?
deception. Deception is the act of deliberately causing somebody to accept something as true that is not true. It is an action that hides the truth.
What is another word for deceive with lies?
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of deceive are beguile, delude, and mislead.
What is the word for deliberately lying?
Definitions of prevarication. noun. the deliberate act of deviating from the truth. synonyms: fabrication, lying.
What is it called when someone says something about you that's not true?
False Accusations—Defamation of Character by Libel or Slander.
What is it called when you lie by not saying anything?
Lying By Omission. Medically reviewed by Joslyn Jelinek, LCSW, ACSW, RDDP — Written by Hope Gillette — Updated on September 6, 2024. Lying by omission occurs when you leave out important details to intentionally misrepresent the truth. It's a dishonest behavior that can negatively impact your interpersonal ...
What is a fancy word for "not true"?
untrue (adjective as in dishonest) Strongest matches. apocryphal deceptive distorted erroneous false fictitious inaccurate incorrect misleading mistaken specious spurious unfaithful unsound untruthful wrong.
What is it called when you say something about someone that isn t true?
A defamatory statement is something factually incorrect being presented as the truth.
What is the legal word for untrue?
Untrue; erroneous; deceitful; contrived or calculated to deceive aud injure. Unlawful.
What is a synonym for false lying?
deceit deception dishonesty disinformation distortion evasion fabrication falsehood fiction forgery inaccuracy misrepresentation myth perjury slander tale. Strong matches.
What is an example of a misleading truth?
A classic example might be if your mum asks if you've finished your homework and you respond: "I've written an essay on Tennessee Williams for my English class." This may be true, but it doesn't actually answer the question about whether your homework was done.
What is a lying condition called?
Pathological lying was first identified in 1891 by psychiatrist Anton Delbrück. He gave it the Latin name pseudologia fantastica (sometimes spelled phantastica). Pathological lying is also known as mythomania and morbid lying.
What is it called when you say untrue things about someone?
Harming someone's reputation in speech with falsehoods is known as slander, and doing the same thing in writing is known as libel (which sometimes includes speech as well). Any ordinary citizen who can claim to have suffered harm as a result of such defamation may sue.
What is a word for completely false?
bogus deceitful dishonest distorted erroneous fake fanciful faulty fictitious fraudulent improper inaccurate incorrect invalid misleading mistaken phony specious spurious unfounded unreal untrue untruthful.
What's it called when you believe something that's not true?
Delusional disorder is a type of psychotic disorder. Its main symptom is the presence of one or more delusions. A delusion is an unshakable belief in something that's untrue. The belief isn't a part of the person's culture or subculture, and almost everyone else knows this belief to be false.
What is a fancy word for deception?
betrayal, deceit, disinformation, duplicity, falsehood, fraud, hypocrisy, lying, mendacity, treachery, trickery, untruth.
How do you professionally call someone a liar?
Mendacious. Probably the best fancy way to describe a liar is mendacious.
What is a polite word for liar?
cheat con artist perjurer phony storyteller. Strong matches. deceiver dissimulator equivocator fabricator fabulist falsifier fibber maligner misleader prevaricator promoter trickster. Weak matches. deluder fabler false witness.
What is a word for a deceitful act?
chicanery deception dishonesty duplicity fraud hypocrisy treachery trickery.
What is not telling the truth called?
A lie is an untruthful assertion. The speaker intends to cause belief in the truth of a statement that the speaker believes to be false. Hence, a lie involves an intention to deceive. The speaker also implicitly assures or promises the hearer that the statement that is made is true.
What is a synonym for deliberately lying?
committing perjury deceitful deceptive delusive delusory false guileful mendacious perfidious shifty treacherous tricky two-faced unreliable untruthful.