Synonyms for lying
- adjective
- noun
Most common
All synonyms
Adjective
Noun
1. Mendacity
mendacity, prevarication, fabrication, falsehood dated rare
Other
Definitions
- adj. 1
Tending to tell lies, untruthful, mendacious
- n. 1
The act of one who lies, or keeps low to the ground.
Related words
Forms
- Plural
- lyings → mendacities, prevarications, fabrications, falsehoods…
Choose the right word
A lie, lying, or falsehood, is the uttering of what one knows to be false with intent to deceive. Falsehood and lying are in utterance; deceit and deception may be merely in act or implication.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- prone I'm afraid my child might be prone to take drugs.
- deceitful I learned the hard way that silence can be deceitful.
- mendacious My wife is mendacious for dating another man behind my back.
- recumbent Recumbent bikes are comfortable.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| lying | rising | |
| prone | rising | |
| deceitful | rising | |
| untruthful | steady | |
| mendacious | rising | |
| recumbent | falling |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 5 letters
- false1, prone1
- 9 letters
- deceitful3, falsehood2, recumbent, mendacity4
- 10 letters
- untruthful3, mendacious3
- 11 letters
- fabrication4
- 13 letters
- prevarication5
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (deceitful3 = 3 syllables).