mendacious

[men-dey-shuhs]

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adjective

telling lies, especially habitually; dishonest; lying; untruthful: a mendacious person.

false or untrue: a mendacious report.

Nearby words

Origin of mendacious

1610–20; < Latin mendāci- (see mendacity) + -ous

ANTONYMS FOR mendacious

1, 2. veracious.

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Related formsmen·da·cious·ly, adverbmen·da·cious·ness, nounun·men·da·cious, adjectiveun·men·da·cious·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mendacious

They created well-intentioned rules—which most mendacious lobbyists have found a way to ignore legally.
Former Lobbyist Jack Abramoff On Congressional Travel Disclosure|Jack Abramoff|July 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Ross Douthat wrote in The New York Times that the media coverage of the bill was “mendacious” and “hysterical.”
Are Opponents of Arizona's Anti-Gay Law Eager to Deceive?|Kirsten Powers|March 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Why call his speech before the United Nations “defamatory and venomous… full of mendacious propaganda?”
Bibi's Offensive Biblical Allusions|Raphael Magarik|January 7, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Erdogan's description of Israeli behavior toward the Palestinians as "genocidal" is mendacious and inflammatory.
Turkish Hypocrisy|Benny Morris|March 28, 2012|DAILY BEAST

But too few Democrats—and almost no media commentators—have countered the mendacious right-wing storyline.
How Republicans Screwed the Pooch|Paul Begala|July 31, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Reuben—the mendacious Reuben—had done very well with his summer stock—very well indeed.
The History of David Grieve|Mrs. Humphry Ward
She felt that he was covering retreat in one direction by a mendacious advance in another.
Pray You, Sir, Whose Daughter?|Helen H. Gardener
Most of them include the mendacious narrative of the pretended descent of the Mississippi.
La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West|Francis Parkman
Now, the mendacious man, as we agreed, is the man who can speak falsely whenever he chooses.
Plato and the Other Companions of Sokrates, 3rd ed. Volume II (of 4)|George Grote
Every mendacious word is a wrong, excepting only when the occasion arises of defending oneself against violence or cunning.
The Basis of Morality|Arthur Schopenhauer

Word Origin and History for mendacious

mendacious

adj.

1610s, from Middle French mendacieux, from Latin mendacium "a lie, untruth, falsehood, fiction," from mendax (genitive mendacis) "lying, deceitful," from menda "fault, defect, carelessness in writing," from PIE root *mend- "physical defect, fault" (see amend (v.)). The sense evolution of Latin mendax was influenced by mentiri "to speak falsely, lie, deceive." Related: Mendaciously; mendaciousness.

mendacious

adjective

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of mendacious

Examples from the Web for mendacious

mendacious