lying

¹ American  

[lahy-ing] / ˈlaɪ ɪŋ /

noun

1. the telling of lies, or false statements; untruthfulness.

   From boyhood, he has never been good at lying.

   Synonyms:

   prevarication, mendacity, falsity, falsehood

   Antonyms:

   veracity, truth

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adjective

1. telling or containing lies; deliberately untruthful; deceitful; false.

   a lying report.

   Synonyms:

   counterfeit, sham, fallacious, mendacious, misleading, deceptive

   Antonyms:

   trustworthy, accurate, correct, actual, candid, true

lying ² American  

[lahy-ing] / ˈlaɪ ɪŋ /

verb

1. present participle of lie.

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lying ¹ British  

/ ˈlaɪɪŋ /

verb

1. the present participle and gerund of lie 1

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lying ² British  

/ ˈlaɪɪŋ /

verb

1. the present participle and gerund of lie 2

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Other Word Forms

• lyingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of lying

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English; lie ¹, -ing ¹, -ing ²

Example Sentences

The video, shot at night in the dark, showed a damaged drone lying in snow in a forested area.

From Barron's

It was there that Dale saw him lying on the footpath.

From BBC

He linked increased sunbed use to social media and television programmes that "stylise lying out in the sun".

From BBC

They gathered outside the local hospital where her body was lying in the morgue.

From BBC

"I was detecting in a particular field and looking around, there was pottery lying around - then I started to find Roman coins," says Mr Derby.

From BBC

Related Words

• misleading