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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in deceiving
to make a statement one knows to be untrue
would I lie to you about that?
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
2
as in sitting
to occupy a place or location
I left the book lying on the counter
Synonyms & Similar Words
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
as in deception
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
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
Anna Skinner, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
Crawford said the lying in wait allegations could not be proved because his client was just standing by a gate when the attack happened.
—City News Service, Oc Register, 15 Oct. 2025
Stop the madness, stop the lying, and just be free.
—Mekishana Pierre, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Oct. 2025
Stop the madness, stop the lying and just be free.
—Brenton Blanchet, PEOPLE, 10 Oct. 2025
Overstatement, gross exaggeration, outright lying.
—Literary Hub, 7 Oct. 2025
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
Kenan Draughorne, Los Angeles Times, 14 Jan. 2022
Lucinda Rosenfeld, New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2025
After weeks of lying and searching for solace through the grief of others, her inability to move on catches up with her.
—Kamal Morgan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Oct. 2025
One is lying, one sitting up, but both provide scares.
—Craig Shoup, Nashville Tennessean, 21 Oct. 2025
Be sure to respond to any inquiries that have been lying dormant.
—Jill Schlesinger, Mercury News, 21 Oct. 2025
The lawsuit says Taylor Cadle was wrongfully prosecuted for lying before providing video evidence of the abuse, leading to Henry Cadle’s conviction.
—Real-Time News Team, Miami Herald, 20 Oct. 2025
Rabil, a former professional lacrosse player, also included a photo of Kirby and their little one lying together in bed.
—Kayla Grant, PEOPLE, 20 Oct. 2025
The Vikings had rookie Tyler Batty lying sideways directly in front of Eagles center Cam Jurgens, with Jalen Redmond on one side over Batty and Levi Drake Rodriguez on the other side.
—Saad Yousuf, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2025
Did Hank do it, or is Maggie lying?
—Gerrad Hall, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Oct. 2025
Adjective
Lowest lying yards along Blue Creek are flooded.
—Anna Skinner, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
Crawford said the lying in wait allegations could not be proved because his client was just standing by a gate when the attack happened.
—City News Service, Oc Register, 15 Oct. 2025
Stop the madness, stop the lying, and just be free.
—Mekishana Pierre, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Oct. 2025
Stop the madness, stop the lying and just be free.
—Brenton Blanchet, PEOPLE, 10 Oct. 2025
Overstatement, gross exaggeration, outright lying.
—Literary Hub, 7 Oct. 2025
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
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
As if lying there playing dead while gradient coils conjure an otherworldly racket that best mimics a mashup of jackhammers and Philip Glass were an admirable skill.
—Lucinda Rosenfeld, New Yorker, 25 Oct. 2025
After weeks of lying and searching for solace through the grief of others, her inability to move on catches up with her.
—Kamal Morgan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Oct. 2025
One is lying, one sitting up, but both provide scares.
—Craig Shoup, Nashville Tennessean, 21 Oct. 2025
Be sure to respond to any inquiries that have been lying dormant.
—Jill Schlesinger, Mercury News, 21 Oct. 2025
The lawsuit says Taylor Cadle was wrongfully prosecuted for lying before providing video evidence of the abuse, leading to Henry Cadle’s conviction.
—Real-Time News Team, Miami Herald, 20 Oct. 2025
Rabil, a former professional lacrosse player, also included a photo of Kirby and their little one lying together in bed.
—Kayla Grant, PEOPLE, 20 Oct. 2025
The Vikings had rookie Tyler Batty lying sideways directly in front of Eagles center Cam Jurgens, with Jalen Redmond on one side over Batty and Levi Drake Rodriguez on the other side.
—Saad Yousuf, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2025
Did Hank do it, or is Maggie lying?
—Gerrad Hall, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lying
Adjective
-
Matthiessen, not without reason, portrays the Bureau as paranoid, dishonest, and in league with corporate interests.—
Maggie Doherty,
New Yorker,
13 Oct. 2025
-
For that incredibly dishonest assessment that actually did a disservice to the country, Obama is held up to widespread praise by Democrats and others, even winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009.—
Joe Battenfeld,
Boston Herald,
11 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Neither Eliot nor Jules suspected anything, and the ease of the deception added to its pleasing sordidness.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 Oct. 2025
-
On October 14, those flights revealed missile sites under construction, confirming that Soviet promises had been deliberate deception.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
20 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Their arrest followed The Osefos allegedly making false and misleading claims after an April 2024 burglary at their family home that led to the insurance fraud criminal charges.—
Etan Vlessing,
HollywoodReporter,
20 Oct. 2025
-
Judge calls for use of body cameras Credibility questions have long trailed law enforcement agencies, whether federal or local, and police statements immediately after an arrest have occasionally proved to be incorrect or misleading.—
Josh Campbell,
CNN Money,
18 Oct. 2025
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
Adjective
-
Some were hastily informed that their firings were erroneous, but the experience rattled the CDC, an agency tasked with overseeing the national response to seasonal respiratory illnesses at a time when those illnesses typically spike.—
Michael Hiltzik,
Twin Cities,
16 Oct. 2025
-
An art review on Friday about two Lu Yang exhibits in New York attributed an erroneous distinction to Lu Yang’s current exhibition at the Museum of the Moving Image.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
15 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
These defendants, which include former professional athletes, used high-tech cheating technology to steal millions of dollars from victims in underground poker games that were secretly fixed.—
Anna Lazarus Caplan,
PEOPLE,
23 Oct. 2025
-
Naroditsky, whose cause of death has not been made public, had vigorously denied cheating, and other chess champions agreed the claims were baseless.—
Julia Prodis Sulek,
Mercury News,
23 Oct. 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
-
The problem isn’t that my girlfriend wouldn’t get to go, but the disrespect and dishonesty of uninviting her out of the blue and trying to cover it up as being a genuine mistake.—
Jordan Greene,
PEOPLE,
14 Oct. 2025
-
In the end, many of the investigations could not be pursued because his accusers did not sign formal complaints, and some complaints, including those that involved allegations of dishonesty, were not sustained by police oversight officials.—
Jennifer Smith Richards,
ProPublica,
2 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lying. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share