ˌwhite ˈlie noun [countable] informal
a lie that you tell someone in order to protect them or avoid hurting their feelings

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

lie/tell a lie to deliberately tell someone something that is not true:
She had lied to protect her son.
Are you accusing me of telling lies?
fib verb [intransitive] informal to lie, especially about something that is not very important – used especially by children:
Dan’s fibbing. I didn’t hit him.
make something up/invent something to invent a story, explanation etc in order to deceive someone:
I didn’t want to go so I made up an excuse and said I was busy.
He invented the tale to prevent his parents from finding out the truth.
mislead verb [transitive] to make someone believe something that is not true by giving them false or incomplete information:
The government misled the public over the war.
be economical with the truth to only tell someone part of the truth – often used when saying indirectly that someone is lying:
He admitted that he had perhaps been economical with the truth.
perjure yourself/commit perjury to tell a lie in a court of law:
He had perjured himself in court.
Witnesses will be prosecuted if they commit perjury.
tell (somebody) a lie
He got into trouble for telling a lie.
believe a lie
How could you believe his lies?
spread lies (=tell them to a lot of people)
How dare you spread such vicious lies?
a complete/total/outright lie (=something that is completely untrue)
Of course the whole thing was a complete lie.
She didn't want to tell her mother an outright lie.
a white lie (=a small lie that you tell someone for good reasons, for example to avoid hurting their feelings)
We all have to tell white lies sometimes.
a downright lie (=used when something is a clearly a lie, especially when you feel annoyed)
That's a downright lie. I never said any such thing!
a vicious lie (=one that is very unkind and very untrue)
He told the court that it was a vicious lie from beginning to end.
a blatant lie (=an obvious lie)
He felt sure Adams was not convinced by such blatant lies.
a barefaced lie British English, a bald-faced lie American English (=an obvious lie that is told with no sense of shame)
How can you stand there and tell me such a barefaced lie?
an elaborate lie
Her parents didn’t realise that it was all an elaborate lie.
a big lie
The lawyer said it was a ‘big lie’ that Jones had not received the message.
a pack of lies informal (also a tissue of lies British English formal) (=a lot of lies)
Everything he had told me was a pack of lies.
lie noun [countable] something you say or write that you know is untrue:
Would you tell lies to protect a friend?
The allegation is a complete lie.
white lie noun [countable] informal a lie that you tell to avoid upsetting someone:
We all tell white lies sometimes.
porky noun [countable usually plural] British English informal a lie – a very informal use:
He’s been telling porkies again.
falsehood noun [countable] formal a statement that is not true, especially one that is intended to give people the wrong idea about someone or something:
He described the allegations as malicious falsehoods.
untruth noun [countable] formal a lie – used especially when you want to avoid saying the word lie:
Some workers go off and tell untruths about the organisations for which they are working.
fabrication noun [uncountable and countable] formal a story or claim that someone has invented in order to deceive someone, or the act of doing this:
The claim was described as a fabrication by the police prosecutor.
He dismissed the charges as pure fabrication.
libel noun [uncountable] law the crime of writing lies that could make people have a bad opinion of someone, especially in a newspaper or magazine:
She sued the newspaper for libel.
libel laws
slander noun [uncountable and countable] law the crime of speaking lies that could make people have a bad opinion of someone, or an untrue statement which does this:
He’s threatening to sue them for slander.
a slander on the good name of the company
Linking his name to terrorism was a slander.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

lie noun [countable] something you say or write that you know is untrue:
Would you tell lies to protect a friend?
The allegation is a complete lie.
white lie noun [countable] informal a lie that you tell to avoid upsetting someone:
We all tell white lies sometimes.
fib noun [countable] informal a lie, especially about something that is not very important – used especially by children:
Have you been telling fibs?
porky noun [countable usually plural] British English informal a lie – a very informal use:
He’s been telling porkies again.
falsehood noun [countable] formal a statement that is not true, especially one that is intended to give people the wrong idea about someone or something:
He described the allegations as malicious falsehoods.
untruth noun [countable] formal a lie – used especially when you want to avoid saying the word lie:
Some workers go off and tell untruths about the organisations for which they are working.
fabrication noun [uncountable and countable] formal a story or claim that someone has invented in order to deceive someone, or the act of doing this:
The claim was described as a fabrication by the police prosecutor.
He dismissed the charges as pure fabrication.
libel noun [uncountable] law the crime of writing lies that could make people have a bad opinion of someone, especially in a newspaper or magazine:
She sued the newspaper for libel.
libel laws
slander noun [uncountable and countable] law the crime of speaking lies that could make people have a bad opinion of someone, or an untrue statement which does this:
He’s threatening to sue them for slander.
a slander on the good name of the company
Linking his name to terrorism was a slander.
lie/tell a lie to deliberately tell someone something that is not true:
She had lied to protect her son.
Are you accusing me of telling lies?
make something up/invent something to invent a story, explanation etc in order to deceive someone:
I didn’t want to go so I made up an excuse and said I was busy.
He invented the tale to prevent his parents from finding out the truth.
mislead verb [transitive] to make someone believe something that is not true by giving them false or incomplete information:
The government misled the public over the war.
be economical with the truth to only tell someone part of the truth – often used when saying indirectly that someone is lying:
He admitted that he had perhaps been economical with the truth.
perjure yourself/commit perjury to tell a lie in a court of law:
He had perjured himself in court.
Witnesses will be prosecuted if they commit perjury.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

white lie
a lie that you tell in order not to upset someone.
I don't see the harm in telling the occasional white lie if it spares someone's feelings.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

white lie
a harmless or small lie often told to be polite or to avoid hurting someone's feelings
I told the woman a white lie when I said that I would be too busy to meet her.

I told my supervisor a white lie yesterday and said that I was sick when actually I was not.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

white lie
n. phr. An innocent social excuse.
I am too busy to go to their house for dinner tonight. I will call them and tell a little white lie about having the flu.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲