Dictionary.com

belie

[ bih-lahy ]
/ bɪˈlaɪ /
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.

QUIZZES

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In our third teacher-created PSAT practice test there are new and unique vocabulary terms you may have never heard of! Can you guess what they mean?
Question 1 of 10
seclusion
a false belief or opinion.
the matter that settles to the bottom of a liquid.
the state of being isolated, kept apart, or withdrawn into solitude.
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Origin of belie

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

synonym study for belie

1, 2. See misrepresent.

OTHER WORDS FROM belie

be·li·er, nounun·be·lied, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Words related to belie

negate, contradict, repudiate, mislead, misstate, distort, gloss over, contravene, deny, disagree, negative, explode, controvert, oppose, confute, gainsay, pervert, hide, disguise, color

Example sentences from the Web for belie

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