liar
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of liar
before 950; Middle English lier, Old English lēogere. See lie 1, -ar 1
Explanation
A liar is someone who doesn't tell the truth. A liar tells lies. "Liar, liar, pants on fire," a phrase of unknown origin, is a children's jump-rope rhyme also used as a playground taunt. Adults, and especially political commentators, have also been known to use the phrase or part of it as a particularly demeaning insult aimed at politicians who make outrageous claims that can't possibly be true. Notice that liar ends in -ar, not -er, as you might expect.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Her father had written the word "Liar" on the envelope.
From BBC • Dec. 8, 2025
Though he mostly avoids the spotlight, “he’s probably one of the best singers I’ve ever met in my life,” said Chad Wolf, the frontman of Carolina Liar.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 2, 2025
"It appears I have reached a wall which I’m struggling to penetrate through," wrote the singer, whose hits include Boy's A Liar and Just For Me.
From BBC • Aug. 2, 2024
Songs like "No Feelings" and "Liar" drill deeper into this notion by going beyond world politics and marketing to more intimate interpersonal territories, directly engaging with the challenges posed by deceit and emotion.
From Salon • Jan. 30, 2024
What he’d just said is another one of Bud Caldwell’s Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself.
From "Bud, Not Buddy" by Christopher Paul Curtis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
