mendacity
Other forms: mendacities
Mendacity is a tendency to lie. Your friend might swear that he didn't eat your secret chocolate stash, but you'll find it hard to believe him if he's known for his mendacity.
Anyone in the habit of lying frequently has the characteristic of mendacity. People often accuse government officials of mendacity, or being less than honest. You're bound to get frustrated by the mendacity of your friend who's a pathological liar. Mendacity comes from the Latin root word mendacium, or "lie." Don't confuse mendacity with a similar-sounding word, audacity — which means "fearlessness, daring, or bravery."
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the tendency to be untruthfulantonyms:veracityunwillingness to tell liestype of:untruthfulnessthe quality of being untruthful
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Vocabulary lists containing mendacity
Let's face it, we all (or at least most of us) lie. Whether you just want to spare someone's feelings or want to get away with something you really shouldn't be doing, people bend the truth on occasion. It's no surprise, then, that there are so many words that describe the telling of untruths. Whether the motivation is malicious or kindhearted, there is a nuanced way to describe it. Here are fifteen words to describe liars and the webs they spin. For the full article, check out Fudging It: A Lexicon of Lies
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