Synonyms of lying

lying 1 of 4

adjective

ˈlī-iŋ 

as in dishonest

telling or containing lies

that lying son of a gun told me that the used car had never been in an accident

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dishonest
• misleading
• erroneous
• mendacious
• untruthful
• false
• untrue
• fallacious
• hypocritical
• hypocrite
• insincere
• two-faced
• perjurious
• double-dealing
• mealymouthed
• smooth-tongued

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• honest
• truthful
• open
• true
• moral
• candid
• sincere
• straightforward
• earnest
• veracious
• scrupulous
• conscientious
• reliable
• straight
• principled
• trustworthy
• just
• plainspoken
• upright
• dependable
• ethical
• virtuous
• trusty
• righteous
• honorable
• decent
• respectable
• trustable
• upstanding
• right-minded

lying

2 of 4

noun

as in deception

Related Words

• deception
• prevarication
• cheating
• dishonesty
• mendacity
• deceit
• duplicity
• dissembling
• swindling
• double-dealing
• equivocation
• fraud
• subterfuge
• deceptiveness
• crookedness
• dissimulation
• dupery
• fakery
• trickery
• crookery
• hypocrisy
• wile
• chicanery
• skulduggery
• fraudulence
• cunning
• fib
• cozenage
• deceitfulness
• jugglery
• guile
• craftiness
• hanky-panky
• obliquity
• mountebankery
• insincerity
• cunningness
• wiliness
• falsehood
• untruth
• chicane
• legerdemain
• craft
• artifice
• guilefulness
• sanctimoniousness
• foxiness
• falsity
• shrewdness
• deviousness
• underhandedness
• secrecy
• two-facedness
• treacherousness
• unscrupulousness
• artfulness
• caginess
• sneakiness
• furtiveness
• shadiness
• covertness
• slipperiness
• smoothness
• shiftiness
• slyness
• stealthiness
• slickness
• oiliness

Dissimilar Words

• good faith
• sincerity
• ingenuousness
• openness
• artlessness
• frankness
• forthrightness
• honesty
• candor
• directness
• plainness
• guilelessness
• reliability
• probity
• trustworthiness
• plainspokenness
• integrity
• goodness
• truthfulness
• solidity
• righteousness
• candidness
• dependability
• decency
• uprightness
• incorruptibility
• trustiness
• reliableness
• trustability
• virtuousness

lying

3 of 4

verb (1)

present participle of lie

as in deceiving

to make a statement one knows to be untrue

would I lie to you about that?

Synonyms & Similar Words

• deceiving
• fibbing
• fooling
• kidding
• prevaricating
• tricking
• fabricating
• misrepresenting
• perjuring
• deluding
• slandering
• equivocating
• libeling
• duping
• snowing
• misstating
• forswearing
• distorting
• hoodwinking
• falsifying
• misleading
• defaming
• misreporting
• fudging
• dissembling
• hoaxing
• gulling
• paltering
• misinforming
• taking in
• traducing
• dissimulating
• beguiling
• cozening
• misguiding
• garbling

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• asserting
• testifying
• confirming
• verifying
• swearing
• validating
• substantiating
• authenticating

lying

4 of 4

verb (2)

present participle of lie

1

as in leading

to be positioned along a certain course or in a certain direction

the train tracks lie just over that hill

Synonyms & Similar Words

• leading
• going
• running
• extending
• heading
• crossing
• bearing
• cutting
• passing
• following
• spanning
• traversing
• coursing

2

as in sitting

to occupy a place or location

I left the book lying on the counter

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sitting
• being
• standing
• resting
• residing
• remaining
• waiting
• bearing
• staying
• overlooking
• awaiting
• commanding
• hanging around
• posting
• sticking around
• tarrying
• dwelling
• stationing

3

as in hiding

to remain out of sight

paparazzi were lying in wait outside the restaurant, a well-known celebrity hangout

Synonyms & Similar Words

• hiding
• lurking
• skulking
• reposing
• lying low
• sneaking
• slinking
• holing up
• evading
• avoiding
• sitting tight
• eluding

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• appearing
• coming out
• showing up
• turning up
• materializing

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of lying

Adjective

He was found dead lying face up on his hotel bed with no signs of trauma, according to a Monday report from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Florida. — Kenan Draughorne, Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2022

Noun

Meanwhile, Melanie’s sister, Steph, begged Melanie to leave Sincere because of his compulsive lying and shady behavior. — Allison Degrushe, StyleCaster, 1 Sep. 2026

Trending Stories Inevitably, the lying started to catch up with her. — Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 18 Aug. 2026

The latest indictment, which the district attorney said was returned July 20, adds the lying in wait circumstance to the previous murder charges. — Liza Esquibias, USA Today, 12 Aug. 2026

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez then accused Rubio of lying and said that Cuba had no knowledge of the offer. — Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 21 July 2026

Those gathering for the lying in state and funeral will contrast with huge nationwide protests in January that were met by a deadly crackdown by security forces that left thousands dead and sent shock waves around the world. — Chantal Da Silva, NBC news, 3 July 2026

What better time than the summer of the nation’s 250th anniversary of independence to reflect on how Trump’s years of lying have corroded the citizenry’s essential belief in the integrity of elections? — Jackie Calmes, Mercury News, 19 June 2026

Stop the madness, stop the lying, and just be free. — Marina Watts, Entertainment Weekly, 19 June 2026

In the finale of Season 2, the women have gotten past the lying and scheming and are in a new and more honest place. — Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 10 June 2026

Verb

Even more horrifying than death was the thought of lying there, trapped beneath the rubble, listening to my two-year-old son desperately crying for help. — Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2026

Failure to cooperate or lying can lead to criminal charges, including contempt, perjury, obstruction and related offenses that threaten incarceration. — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 11 Sep. 2026

The mother initially told police the baby stopped responding while lying face down in their bed after she was fed. — Mike Hellgren, CBS News, 11 Sep. 2026

That includes the energy pumped out from the hearts of galaxies by feeding supermassive black holes, a type of cosmic feedback that smooths out clumpy cosmic matter lying outside galaxies. — Robert Lea, Space.com, 10 Sep. 2026

August also had the hottest sea-surface temperature in the extra-polar oceans, or those lying just outside the Arctic and Antarctic circles. — Matthew Cappucci, Washington Post, 10 Sep. 2026

There also are no specific physiological reactions associated with lying. — Brian O'Neill, The Conversation, 10 Sep. 2026

The cast features all manner of comedic heavy hitters, including Anna Kendrick (who’s been lying rather low since Another Simple Favor), Kate Berlant, Issa Rae, and…Sharon Stone. — John Ross, Vanity Fair, 10 Sep. 2026

Of those same top-six roles, arguably only that of the deepest-lying midfielder, in No 6 Nico Gonzalez, is written in ink rather than pencil. — Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026