liar
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of liar
before 950; Middle English lier, Old English lēogere. See lie 1, -ar 1
Explanation
A liar is someone who doesn't tell the truth. A liar tells lies. "Liar, liar, pants on fire," a phrase of unknown origin, is a children's jump-rope rhyme also used as a playground taunt. Adults, and especially political commentators, have also been known to use the phrase or part of it as a particularly demeaning insult aimed at politicians who make outrageous claims that can't possibly be true. Notice that liar ends in -ar, not -er, as you might expect.
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.
He doesn't name Mr Fantasy, but suggests the person behind the music video is a "liar" and a "thief".
From BBC • May 7, 2026
Kennard appealed the judgment, claiming that the case harmed her reputation and cost her income—on the stand, she said she had been called a stalker, a liar and a Jezebel.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026
She also called Smith “a liar and a fraud.”
From Salon • Mar. 25, 2026
Was she ever at risk of becoming a two-faced liar herself?
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2026
“You liar, I knew you’d sneak off and see her!”
From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn
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.
