Word.ws English Dictionary

the cake is a lie

the cake is a lie phrase: the end being pursued is unattainable or misguided; the reward promised is false.

Phrase

the cake is a lie

  1. (Internet) The end being pursued is unattainable or misguided; the reward promised is false.
    • The jokes are cake, and the cake is a lie — fan-service tricking nerds into watching a show designed for adults who vote Republican (Middle America!).2011 December 15, Nick Martin, “A Hit Sitcom In Just Five Easy Steps!”, in Buzz Weekly, page 6
    • The assumption that a degree will vastly improve future earnings is increasingly misleading. By their very nature high paid jobs are exclusive and limited in number. "The cake is a lie."2012, James Margeson, "The quiet assault on public education", The Sphinx (University of Liverpool), March 2012, page 9

Origin of the cake is a lie

From the video game Portal (2007), in which a self-aware computer, GLaDOS, lures the player into participating in dangerous experiments with the promise of a cake. As the game progresses, the player discovers graffiti left by the only previous test subject to survive GLaDOS' murderous scheme, including the warning the cake is a lie.

Questions about the cake is a lie

What does the cake is a lie mean?
The cake is a lie means the end being pursued is unattainable or misguided; the reward promised is false.
What part of speech is the cake is a lie?
The cake is a lie is a phrase.

Words near the cake is a lie in the dictionary

  1. the British are coming
  2. The Brothers
  3. the buck stops here
  4. the burnt child dreads the fire
  5. the burnt child fears the fire
  6. the cake is a lie
  7. the call is coming from inside the house
  8. The Call of South Africa
  9. the camera never lies
  10. the candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long
  11. the captain goes down with the ship

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: the cake is a lie (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-the cake is a lie.wav.

Cite this entry: “the cake is a lie.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/the_cake_is_a_lie. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.