out of whole cloth

Idioms  

1. From pure fabrication or fiction. This expression is often put as cut (or made) out of whole cloth, as in That story was cut out of whole cloth. In the 15th century this expression referred to something fabricated from cloth that ran the full length of the loom. However, by the 1800s it was common practice for tailors to deceive their customers and, instead of using whole cloth, actually make garments from pieced goods. Their advertising slogan, “cut out of whole cloth,” thus came to mean “made up, false.”

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Example Sentences

Artificial intelligence may be well-known for generating human-like images out of whole cloth, but if the software has a public face it is Sam Altman’s.

From Reuters • Nov. 18, 2023

She said the lawyers were asking her “to fashion a specific rule out of whole cloth to protect them from potential arbitrator bias that may never manifest itself.”

From Seattle Times • Jul. 25, 2023

Similarly, another reference seems made up out of whole cloth.

From Slate • Jan. 31, 2023

Hollywood is notorious for taking generous liberties with anything “based on a true story” — rearranging timelines, changing characters’ names and inventing conversations out of whole cloth.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 18, 2022

One trillion dollars in losses had been created by American financiers, out of whole cloth, and embedded in the American financial system.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis