lying 1 of 4

lying

2 of 4

verb (1)

present participle of lie

lying

3 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

2
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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

lying

4 of 4

noun

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
When accusations of lying are going both ways, who gets to control the truth? The New Yorker, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2025 But lying becomes second nature. Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 2 Sep. 2025 At the same time, lying seems to be a particularly tough problem for AI companies to completely solve, at least in the short term. PC Magazine, 29 Aug. 2025 The real truth is that lying is not eviscerated. Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 24 Aug. 2025 And so the idea of the lying, cheating male, who will do anything to further his fitness, is not remote or fantasy. Quanta Magazine, 21 Aug. 2025 The neurosis and the strategic thinking, manipulation, lying, and hedging — all that stuff is 1,000 percent accurate. Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 13 Aug. 2025 Republicans held firm to the idea that lying is wrong and the president should be held accountable for his decisions, regardless of other circumstances. Colin Pascal, Baltimore Sun, 4 Aug. 2025
Verb
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
After sustaining the impact, Walker remained face down on the field, lying motionless. Lauren Merola, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2025 In the short video, the dachshund is seen lying across his owner's bed as a hand reaches in to move him. Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Sep. 2025 From creator, writer, director and EP Rian Johnson, Poker Face is a mystery-of-the-week series following Natasha Lyonne’s character Charlie, who has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 11 Sep. 2025 All of that lying, manipulation, and judgment leads to the series finale, in which Laura has secretly recorded Cherry’s mother describing her violent past and aims to share the audio with Daniel, until Cherry shows up at their family home. Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 10 Sep. 2025 Like the source material from author Michelle Frances, Naomi Sheldon and Gabbie Asher’s TV adaptation is told from multiple points of view, leaving the audience and remaining characters to make their own choices about who’s truthful and who’s lying — and why. Proma Khosla, IndieWire, 10 Sep. 2025 Maddie hides her binging and purging from Deena and Jake, lying about being pregnant to distract her husband from what’s really going on. Jourdain Searles, HollywoodReporter, 7 Sep. 2025 Locally heavy rain will quickly reduce visibility and result in ponding of water on roadways, standing water in low lying areas, and minor flooding of creeks, streams, and areas of poor drainage. Nc Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 6 Sep. 2025 On Thursday, at a contentious hearing before the Senate finance committee, Kennedy accused Monarez of lying, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, about why she was fired. Dhruv Khullar, New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lying
Adjective
  • Industry groups insist that they are committed to weeding out dishonest companies that make false claims or sell dangerous products.
    Suzy Khimm, NBC news, 26 Aug. 2025
  • No, it was done to protect dishonest businesses.
    U T Editorial Board, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • But there’s some deception at play.
    Vann R. Newkirk II, The Atlantic, 16 Sep. 2025
  • Stories of similar scenes are sweeping Puerto Rico—raids without court orders, marked by deception and racial profiling, often regardless of legal status.
    Israel Melendez Ayala, Time, 16 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Trump has initiated a flurry of defamation lawsuits against media companies, accusing them of false or misleading coverage.
    Anniek Bao, CNBC, 16 Sep. 2025
  • In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Hinton challenged the optimistic visions promoted by Silicon Valley leaders, suggesting that much of the upbeat narrative about AI’s societal benefits is, at best, misleading.
    Tim Bajarin, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • 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
Adjective
  • It must also be said that, for all the lamenting of the Netherlands’ failure to win, West Germany — and Muller — were robbed of a clear goal in the second half due to an erroneous offside flag.
    Michael Cox, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2025
  • On Thursday, an erroneous report of a man with a gun sent two Boulder schools into lockdown.
    Seth Klamann, Denver Post, 12 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • When yet another affair is discovered (Kate Upton), all three women team up to plot mutual revenge on their cheating, lying, three-timing SOB.
    Caitlin White, Variety, 2 Sep. 2025
  • Byron had his arms wrapped around the company's HR chief, Kristin Cabot, and subsequently faced cheating allegations after they were spotted on the jumbotron.
    Megan Cartwright, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • At Comedy Central, Colbert rose to prominence playing a slightly exaggerated version of Bill O’Reilly and other unapologetically mendacious Fox News pundits from the George W. Bush years.
    Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 18 July 2025
  • The true story reveals both how freedom of speech first came to be conceived of as a mechanism for truth, an antidote to falsehood, and the foundation of all liberty—and that, ironically, this new and powerful theory was itself a deliberately mendacious fiction.
    Fara Dabhoiwala, Harpers Magazine, 4 June 2025
Noun
  • Another may view the same history somewhat negatively, as evidence of dishonesty and unreliability.
    Virginia La Torre Jeker, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
  • Johnson’s dishonesty doesn’t even take into consideration the carnage from the homicides of yesteryear in the Windy City.
    Christopher Tremoglie, The Washington Examiner, 5 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Lying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lying. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.

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