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belie

[ bih-lahy ]
/ bɪˈlaɪ /
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See synonyms for: belie / belies / belying on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), be·lied, be·ly·ing.
to show to be false; contradict: His trembling hands belied his calm voice.
to misrepresent: The newspaper belied the facts.
to act unworthily according to the standards of (a tradition, one's ancestry, one's faith, etc.).
Archaic. to lie about; slander.
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Origin of belie

First recorded before 1000; Middle English belyen, Old English belēogan; see be-, lie1

synonym study for belie

1, 2. See misrepresent.

OTHER WORDS FROM belie

be·li·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use belie in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for belie

belie
/ (bɪˈlaɪ) /

verb -lies, -lying or -lied (tr)
to show to be untrue; contradict
to misrepresent; disguise the nature ofthe report belied the real extent of the damage
to fail to justify; disappoint

Derived forms of belie

belier, noun

Word Origin for belie

Old English belēogan; related to Old Frisian biliuga, Old High German biliugan; see be-, lie 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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