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.
Osama bin Laden was leading al Qaeda, the liar loans that soon prompted the Great Recession were being issued, and our capital was awash in muck and corruption.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2026
Altman remained calm under the barrage, even as Molo pressed him on the testimony of other witnesses who had described him as a liar.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 16, 2026
He doesn't name Mr Fantasy, but suggests the person behind the music video is a "liar" and a "thief".
From BBC • May 7, 2026
“Steve is a fraud. He’s a liar, and I’m not going to sit by and just let him do it anymore,” Bianco said after the Rancho Mirage debate.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026
“And I’ll stop calling you a liar while you’re selling, even though you’re a liar.”
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
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.
