lying 1 of 4

adjective

ˈlī-iŋ How to pronounce lying (audio)
Definition of lyingnext
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

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lying

2 of 4

noun

as in deception

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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?

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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

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2
as in sitting
to occupy a place or location I left the book lying on the counter

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3
as in hiding
to remain out of sight paparazzi were lying in wait outside the restaurant, a well-known celebrity hangout

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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
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 Just needed his seat in Congress despite his lying and cheating, kind of like the guy sitting in the White House. — Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 8 June 2026 To me that’s not a rewrite job — that’s just plain lying. — Bea L. Hines, Miami Herald, 4 June 2026 Kandynn was convicted of first-degree murder, with a lying in wait special circumstance, according to the DA's office. — Samira Asma-Sadeque, PEOPLE, 29 May 2026 His lying has finally caught up with him. — Erin Moriarty, CBS News, 17 May 2026
Verb
The Cinerama Dome in Hollywood is finally set to reopen after six years of lying dormant since the COVID-19 pandemic. — Brian Welk, IndieWire, 22 July 2026 City see Bouaddi as somebody who will need to improve in attacking areas, but are convinced of his ability as a deep-lying, combative midfielder who is very comfortable on the ball. — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 21 July 2026 The video shows Fakir lying face down on the ground ‌while two officers restrain him. — Reuters, NBC news, 20 July 2026 The prosecution argued that Brumetti was lying and would do anything – including putting himself on death row in Connecticut – to get out of 15 years of solitary confinement in Alabama. — Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 19 July 2026 Other areas targeted include Ahvaz, Darab, Yazd, Omidiyeh and Bushehr county – with some lying much further inland. — Monica Haider, CNN Money, 18 July 2026 Voting more than once, tampering with ballots, lying about your residence to vote somewhere else or casting someone else’s ballot are crimes that can be punished with hefty fines and prison time. — Ali Swenson, Chicago Tribune, 18 July 2026 In addition to lying south of Mount Nyiragongo, Goma is also 19 miles (30 km) southeast of another active volcano, Mount Nyamulagira, and just over the border from the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. — Chinatsu Tsuji, Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 July 2026 Prosecutors accuse him of lying about the violent encounter, and firing through Sosa-Celis' front door while young children were home. — Esme Murphy, CBS News, 13 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lying
  1. dishonest
  2. deception
  3. deceiving
  4. leading
  5. sitting
  6. hiding
  7. misleading
  8. prevarication
Adjective
  • But 52% of employees in that same study believe their company's efforts to be empathetic are dishonest.
    — Dennis Kozak, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026
  • The state agency said clinic staffers had clients sign a personal injury waiver, which the commission said was unenforceable, against public policy and deceptive and dishonest.
    — Ashley Hiruko, ProPublica, 8 July 2026
Definition of dishonest
Noun
  • Yes, a bit of deception has long been standard in listing photos — a wide lens, a bit of color saturation to make a viewless window appear brighter — but the tools today are more sophisticated, cheaper, and pretty ubiquitous.
    — Matthew Sedacca, Curbed, 21 July 2026
  • Nolan reinvents him as a naive young soldier left outside the horse to sell Odysseus’ deception.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 21 July 2026
Definition of deception
Verb
  • Those figures, though, are a bit deceiving; infant and childhood mortality dragged them down dramatically.
    — Adam Cohen, Oklahoman, 30 June 2026
  • Appearance, though, can be deceiving, but luckily, this shed is still packed with smart features and a clever design that will keep all your belongings safe.
    — Shea Simmons, Southern Living, 29 June 2026
Definition of deceiving
Verb
  • Photos from the excursion show Wells hanging out with what seem to be all-White friends, leading some to evoke harsh feelings about Mississippi’s fraught racial history and speculate about whether race played a role in his death.
    — Holly Yan, CNN Money, 20 July 2026
  • Even if Kylian Mbappe clinched the Golden Boot in the third-place play-off against England and surpassed him as the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer, many of the other all-time records in this competition belong to Messi.
    — James Horncastle, New York Times, 20 July 2026
Definition of leading
Verb
  • Dallas is in a difficult salary-cap jam — sitting a little more than $1 million over the limit after this signing — and getting Robertson signed to a long-term commitment would have meant a higher cap hit and cuts elsewhere.
    — Julian McKenzie, New York Times, 22 July 2026
  • Although several of the ArcLight locations were taken over by other operators, the Dome and ArcLight multiplex in Hollywood, which are owned outright by Pacific’s parent company Decurion, have been sitting empty ever since.
    — Pat Saperstein, Variety, 21 July 2026
Definition of sitting
Verb
  • Little does Sinon know, Odysseus and his men are hiding inside the horse to launch a sneak attack on Troy.
    — Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 19 July 2026
  • The philosopher Michael Sandel (Rhodes Scholar, Harvard professor) accuses elites of hiding their privilege behind spurious claims of merit.
    — Gilad Edelman, The Atlantic, 19 July 2026
Definition of hiding
Adjective
  • The information on garment labels is often inaccurate or misleading, according to new research by the European Commission.
    — Tamsin Blanchard, Vogue, 16 July 2026
  • The standout interlude is the soldiers’ visit to the island domain of Circe, a treacherous witch played with deceptive calm and a misleading air of distraction by a bone-chilling Samantha Morton.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 15 July 2026
Definition of misleading
Noun
  • This week, in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Attorney General Pam Bondi gave a master class in obfuscation, prevarication, and pettiness.
    — John Ficarra, Air Mail, 11 Oct. 2025
  • There was no picture, there was no drawing, there has been so many lies, so much prevarication, so much cover up.
    — John Parkinson, ABC News, 10 Sep. 2025
Definition of prevarication

Browse Nearby Words

lyceums
lying
lying back
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Cite this Entry

“Lying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lying. Accessed 24 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on lying

Nglish: Translation of lying for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about lying

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