white lie
white lie noun: a deliberately untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result; especially, one which is judged to be better than an overhonest alternative, as for example to remain polite in a superficial social exchange, or to pick one's battles.
Noun
white lie (plural white lies)
- A deliberately untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result; especially, one which is judged to be better than an overhonest alternative, as for example to remain polite in a superficial social exchange, or to pick one's battles.
- The prevarication and white lies which a mind that keeps itself ambitiously pure is as uneasy under as a great artist under the false touches that no eye detects but his own, are worn as lightly as mere trimmings when once the actions have become a lie.1861, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XIII, in Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, part I, page 239
- An occasional little white lie such as Weston's probably won't cause any lasting damage. And at times, telling the truth—particularly the whole truth to a child who's not at an age to handle it—may do more harm than good, they say.2008 July 15, Jacqueline Stenson, “The Whole Truth: When is it okay to lie to your kids?”, in Newsweek, retrieved 14 Sep 2017
- Synonyms:
- fib
white lie meaning in Tamil and Urdu
white lie in Tamil
- வாய்ப்பொய், தீங்கிலாப் பொய், நன்மை பயக்கும் பொய்ம்மை
white lie in Urdu
- سفید جھوٹ
Examples of white lie in a sentence
- Too many joy rides in daddy's Jaguar / Too many white lies and white lines2012, “Super Rich Kids”, in channel Orange, performed by Frank Ocean ft. Earl Sweatshirt:
- What the next man knows, where the next man goes / Telling white lies ‘bout black folks2021, “Hard To Find”, in Parallel World, performed by Cadence Weapon:
Synonyms of white lie
Forms of white lie
| plural | white lies |
|---|---|
| alternative form | little white lie |
Questions about white lie
- What does white lie mean?
- White lie means a deliberately untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result; especially, one which is judged to be better than an overhonest alternative, as for example to remain polite in a superficial social exchange, or to pick one's battles.
- What is white lie in Tamil?
- White lie in Tamil is வாய்ப்பொய், தீங்கிலாப் பொய், நன்மை பயக்கும் பொய்ம்மை. See White lie meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use white lie in a sentence?
- Too many joy rides in daddy's Jaguar / Too many white lies and white lines
- What part of speech is white lie?
- White lie is a noun.
- What is the plural of white lie?
- The plural of white lie is white lies.
Words near white lie in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: white lie (page history and authors); white lie (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); white lie (Urdu 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-au-white lie.ogg.
Cite this entry: “white lie.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/white_lie. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.