belie
UK/bɪˈlaɪ//bɪˈlaɪ/
belie verb: to lie around; encompass.
Verb (1)
belie (third-person singular simple present belies, present participle belying, simple past belay, past participle belain)
- To lie around; encompass.
- When little worlds collide, I'm trapped inside my embryonic cell / And flashing memories are cast into the never-ending well / The name that scorns the face / The child that never sees the cause of man / The deathly darkness that / Belies the fate of those who never ran1973, “A National Acrobat”, in Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, performed by Black Sabbath
- but I… have, you know… But whenever China does something, whenever China figure out something, I… they always very quickly figure out to commercialize it, and commodify it, to make it significantly affordable. And, I think that's what's gonna happen here, and I think that's… a lot of the copium...2026 July 25, 12:27 from the start, in China Just Sent America a Message… And Washington Heard It Dr Warwick Powell (Video streaming), Carl Zha (actor)
- To surround; beleaguer.
Verb (2)
belie (third-person singular simple present belies, present participle belying, simple past and past participle belied)
- To tell lies about.
- Thou do’ſt bely him Percy, thou doſt bely him; / He never did encounter with Glendower:c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- Synonyms:
- slander, calumniate
- To give a false representation of.
- Her smooth complexion and dark hair belie her actual age.
- Should I do ſo I ſhould bely my thoughts, / Comfort's in heauen, and we are on the earth[…]1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, […], published 1597...
- Synonyms:
- misrepresent
- To contradict, to show (something) to be false.
- Her obvious nervousness belied what she said.
- Their trembling Hearts bely their boaſting Tongues.1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act III, page 43
- Synonyms:
- contradict, give the lie to, put the lie to, give lie to, put lie to, put to lie
- To call a liar; to accuse of falsehood.
- They haue belyed the Lord, and ſaid; It is not he, neither ſhall euill come vpon vs, neither ſhal we ſee ſwoꝛd noꝛ famine.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jeremiah 5:12, column 1
- To fill with lies; to lie to.
- No, ’tis Slander, / Whoſe edge is ſharper then the Sword, whoſe tongue / Out-venomes all the Wormes of Nyle, whoſe breath / Rides on the poſting windes, / and doth belye All corners of the World.1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
- Three belied you, three betrayed you! One you betrayed was three times true! Lord Voryn Dagoth, Dagoth Ur, steadfast liegeman, faithful friend, bids you come and climb Red Mountain!2002 May 1, Bethesda Softworks, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, →OCLC, Microsoft Windows, scene: Ashlander Informant
- To conceal the contradictory or ironic presence of (something).
- His calm demeanor belied his inner sense of guilt.
- The rosy outlook belies a struggle to achieve statewide eradication that has persisted since the insect first crossed the border from Mexico around 1892.2013 August 31, Elizabeth Koh, “Fighting Pest, Farmers Find Strange Ally: A Drought”, in New York Times
- To show, evince or demonstrate (something) to be present, particularly something deemed contradictory or ironic.
- A host of evidence is adduced by the accused, evidence whose sometimes self-contradictory nature belies a certain desperation1993, Carol A. Mossman, Politics and Narratives of Birth: Gynocolonization from Rousseau to Zola, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 28
- […] a low, flat, boring building that belies its past as an IRS facility […]2016 August 3, Jeanne Marie Laskas, “Inside the Federal Bureau Of Way Too Many Guns”, in GQ Online
- To mimic; to counterfeit.
- Which durſt with horſes hoofs that beat the ground / And Martial brass bely the thunders ſound.1660, [John] Dryden, Astraea Redux, page 11
- The Shape of Man, and imitated beſt; / The Walk, the Words, the Gesture cou'd ſupply, / The Habit mimick, and the Mien bely[…]1700, [John] Dryden, “Ceyx and Alcyone”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 373
belie meaning in Urdu, Malayalam, Kannada and Arabic
belie in Urdu
- جھٹوانا, جھوٹا بنانا
belie in Malayalam
- മോശം അഭിപ്രായം സൃഷ്ടിക്കുക
belie in Kannada
- ಸುಳ್ಳಾಡು, ತಪ್ಪುಕಲ್ಪನೆ ನೀಡು, ತಪ್ಪು ಅಭಿಪ್ರಾಯ ಸೂಚಿಸು
belie in Arabic
- to contradict or show to be false
- كَذَّبَ kaḏḏaba
Examples of belie in a sentence
- And, I think that's what's gonna happen here, and I think that's… a lot of the copium belies kinda the deep American anxiety of China catching up.2026 July 25, 12:27 from the start, in China Just Sent America a Message… And Washington Heard It Dr Warwick Powell (Video streaming), Carl...
- Cambodia's apparent relative insignificance belied its geopolitical importance.2013 April 3, Patrick Heenan, The Southeast Asia Handbook, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page 132:
- Opposite, the Loram site contains a real ragbag of yellow, blue or rust-streaked kit whose appearance belies their importance in keeping the railways running.2020 November 18, Paul Bigland, “New infrastructure and new rolling stock”, in Rail, page 49:
- This fact belies the earlier myth that would have us believe that kesar was not known prior to Lalitaditya's reign.2001, Arun Kaul, “Kesar: The cultural geography of Kashmir”, in The Human Landscape, page 227:
Synonyms of belie
Forms of belie
| third-person singular present | belies |
|---|---|
| present participle | belying |
| past | belay |
| past participle | belain |
| past participle | belied |
| past | belied |
| alternative form (obsolete) | bely |
Origin of belie
From Middle English belyen, beliggen, from Old English beliċġan, biliċġan (“to lie around, surround, hedge in, encompass”), from Proto-West Germanic *biliggjan, from Proto-Germanic *biligjaną (“to lie around”). Equivalent to be- (“around, by”) + lie (“to be positioned”).
From Middle English belyen, beleoȝen, from Old English belēogan (“to deceive by lying, be mistaken”), from Proto-West Germanic *bileugan (“to belie”). Equivalent to be- (“about”) + lie (“to deceive”). Compare Dutch beliegen (“to lie about, tell lies”), German belügen (“to lie to someone”).
Words formed from belie
Words that rhyme with belie
Questions about belie
- What does belie mean?
- Belie means to lie around; encompass.
- What is belie in Urdu?
- Belie in Urdu is جھٹوانا, جھوٹا بنانا. See Belie meaning in Urdu.
- How do you use belie in a sentence?
- And, I think that's what's gonna happen here, and I think that's… a lot of the copium belies kinda the deep American anxiety of China catching up.
- What part of speech is belie?
- Belie is a verb.
- How do you pronounce belie?
- Belie is pronounced /bɪˈlaɪ/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of belie?
- The past tense of belie is belay.
Words near belie in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: belie (page history and authors); belie (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); belie (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); belie (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-belie.ogg.
Cite this entry: “belie.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/belie. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.