fib

American  

[fib] / fɪb /

noun

1. a small or trivial lie; minor falsehood.

---

verb (used without object)

fibbed, fibbing

1. to tell a fib.

fib British  

/ fɪb /

noun

1. a trivial and harmless lie

---

verb

1. (intr) to tell such a lie

Related Words

See falsehood.

Other Word Forms

• fibber noun
• fibster noun
• unfibbing adjective

Etymology

Origin of fib

1560–70; short for fibble-fable nonsense, gradational compound based on fable

Example Sentences

After an overconfident miller fibs that his daughter can spin straw into gold, a greedy king locks the poor girl in a room full of straw.

From The Wall Street Journal

He didn’t know diddly about ships or sailing, so he had to tell a big fib to get a job as a cabin boy.

From Literature

Stunned by her blatant fibbing, I backed off.

From MarketWatch

By the way, they also confess to occasionally fibbing about “overqualificiations” to spare job applicants’ egos.

From The Wall Street Journal

And a few moments later a voice next to us describes another case: "Six-year-old girl, she was hit by an electric bike, she has a closed tib/fib fracture."

From BBC