mendacity

[ men-das-i-tee ]

noun

, plural men·dac·i·ties

1. the quality of being mendacious; untruthfulness; tendency to lie.

   Synonyms: deceit, untruth, lie, deception

2. an instance of lying; falsehood.

   Synonyms: deceit, untruth, lie, deception

mendacity

/ mɛnˈdeɪʃəs; mɛnˈdæsɪtɪ /

noun

1. the tendency to be untruthful
2. a falsehood

Derived Forms

• menˈdaciousness, noun
• mendacious, adjective
• menˈdaciously, adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of mendacity¹

1640–50; < Late Latin mendācitās falsehood, equivalent to Latin mendāci- (stem of mendāx ) given to lying, false + -tās -ty ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of mendacity¹

C17: from Late Latin mendācitās, from Latin mendāx untruthful

Example Sentences

In the film, based on Jennifer Vogel’s memoir Flim Flam Man, Jennifer comes to believe her father’s mendacity is “wedded to his shame and disappointment.”

From Time

Besides the mendacity of it all, such a scheme misses the obvious truth that “the audience has a mind of its own.”

From The Daily Beast

Within this maelstrom of mendacity lies an urgent film that dares to convey the black experience in America: Dear White People.

From The Daily Beast

Rush soon moved out of apology mode in any event, casting himself as a victim of media mendacity.

From The Daily Beast

The destruction of a for-profit enterprise is always noble; its defense always carries the whiff of mendacity.

From The Daily Beast

His new book, The Mendacity of Hope, argues that Obama has betrayed liberalism and the Constitution.

From The Daily Beast

A surprising person Henri, with his worn uniform and his capacity for kindly mendacity.

From Project Gutenberg

"Of course, I didn't really think she was my aunt," he said, with the easy mendacity of childhood.

From Project Gutenberg

With characteristic mendacity, the duke spread the report that the prisoner had died a natural death.

From Project Gutenberg

Nothing is more revolting, but nothing is more characteristic of the Queen, than her shameless mendacity.

From Project Gutenberg

"Religious mania; hysterical mendacity," a doctor diagnosed it, with a pompous frown.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• deceit
• deception
• prevarication