fib
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
Synonym Usage
See falsehood.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
fibsimple
-
fibssimple
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have fibbedperfect
-
has fibbedperfect
-
am fibbingprogressive
-
are fibbingprogressive
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is fibbingprogressive
-
have been fibbingperfect progressive
-
has been fibbingperfect progressive
Past
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fibbedsimple
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had fibbedperfect
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was fibbingprogressive
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were fibbingprogressive
-
had been fibbingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fib
1560–70; short for fibble-fable nonsense, gradational compound based on fable
Explanation
A fib is a small lie. If you think your friend's haircut looks strange, but you tell her you love it, it's a fib. When you tell a fib, you fib. The thing that distinguishes a fib from a lie is that a fib isn't terribly important — it's minor or petty. You might fib to protect someone's feelings or to save yourself a long explanation about exactly why you're late to work. The origin of the word fib is uncertain, but it may come from fibble-fable, or "nonsense," which in turn comes from fable.
Vocabulary lists containing fib
Dubliners
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Charlotte's Web
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I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005
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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.
Q. Re: Looking for new jobs after a personal absence: Fib a little.
From Slate • Jul. 16, 2019
It’s called the Fib, for Fibonacci sequence, a numerical series in which, after the first two, each number is the sum of the two before it.
From Washington Post • Oct. 11, 2018
I'll concentrate on Edinburgh later this week, but before the festivities begin there are other shows to see, including Metro-Boulot-Dodo's Fib as part of Watch This Space at the National Theatre.
From The Guardian • Aug. 2, 2010
To Fib or Not to Fib Five businesses that are the last of their kind in America.
From Inc • Apr. 12, 2010
I tell the librarian Fib gonna turn my papers in tomorrow.
From "The Skin I'm In" by Sharon G. Flake
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.
