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Synonyms

lying

1 American  
[lahy-ing] / ˈlaɪ ɪŋ /

noun

  1. the telling of lies, or false statements; untruthfulness.

    From boyhood, he has never been good at lying.
    Synonyms:
    prevarication, mendacity, falsity, falsehood
    Antonyms:
    veracity, truth

adjective

  1. telling or containing lies; deliberately untruthful; deceitful; false.

    a lying report.
    Synonyms:
    counterfeit, sham, fallacious, mendacious, misleading, deceptive
    Antonyms:
    trustworthy, accurate, correct, actual, candid, true
lying 2 American  
[lahy-ing] / ˈlaɪ ɪŋ /

verb

  1. present participle of lie.

lying 1 British  
/ ˈlaɪɪŋ /

verb

  1. the present participle and gerund of lie 1

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
lying 2 British  
/ ˈlaɪɪŋ /

verb

  1. the present participle and gerund of lie 2

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • lyingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of lying

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English; lie 1, -ing 1, -ing 2

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In December, a California Highway Patrol officer was sentenced to 270 days in a county jail for lying about an injury in order to claim medical retirement.

From Los Angeles Times

Jurors convicted Goldstein on 12 of the 16 counts against him, including tax evasion, willful failure to timely pay taxes and lying to mortgage lenders.

From The Wall Street Journal

The representatives sit on the House Judiciary Committee where Rep. Lieu first accused Bondi of lying when she testified on Feb. 11 for the first time since taking office.

From Salon

He loved lying in the snow and playing in the snow and sitting in the snow while staring at ice shapes in all their sculptural beauty.

From Literature

Before the monkeys showed up, Rowdy had been lying at my side.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.