lying

¹ American  

[lahy-ing] / ˈlaɪ ɪŋ /

noun

1. the telling of lies, or false statements; untruthfulness.

   From boyhood, he has never been good at lying.

   Synonyms:

   prevarication, mendacity, falsity, falsehood

   Antonyms:

   veracity, truth

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adjective

1. telling or containing lies; deliberately untruthful; deceitful; false.

   a lying report.

   Synonyms:

   counterfeit, sham, fallacious, mendacious, misleading, deceptive

   Antonyms:

   trustworthy, accurate, correct, actual, candid, true

lying ² American  

[lahy-ing] / ˈlaɪ ɪŋ /

verb

1. present participle of lie.

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lying ¹ British  

/ ˈlaɪɪŋ /

verb

1. the present participle and gerund of lie 1

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lying ² British  

/ ˈlaɪɪŋ /

verb

1. the present participle and gerund of lie 2

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Other Word Forms

• lyingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of lying

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English; lie ¹, -ing ¹, -ing ²

Example Sentences

"I was detecting in a particular field and looking around, there was pottery lying around - then I started to find Roman coins," says Mr Derby.

From BBC

When Elizabeth writes of stepping into her gleaming kitchen to “test the crumbly brown goodness of the toasted veal cutlets à la Connecticut,” she is not so much lying as world-building.

From Salon

She responds by lying close or across Lucia to help calm her.

From BBC

While there are legitimate ways for drivers to shave their premium costs — like shopping around for a better policy — there are also illegal ways, like lying to insurance companies about important facts.

From MarketWatch

That pattern changed with the identification of a newly studied site where scientists documented more than 100 vertebrate fossils per square meter, including large dinosaur bones lying almost directly on top of one another.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• misleading