mendacious
men-DAY-shuhs
/mɛnˈdeɪʃəs/
Not telling the truth; lying or habitually dishonest.
Mendacious is a highly formal adjective used to describe a person who is a habitual liar, or a statement/publication that is full of lies. It carries a strong moral condemnation.
The story behind the word. Mendacious comes from the Latin 'mendax' (lying), which is closely related to 'menda', meaning a physical blemish, fault, or defect. To the Romans, a lie was seen as a moral blemish or defect on one's character.
Word relationships
- untruthful: Untruthful is the common, everyday equivalent, while mendacious is formal and implies a deeper, more habitual pattern of dishonesty.
- duplicitous: Duplicitous specifically implies being two-faced or double-dealing, whereas mendacious simply means lying or dishonest.
- veracious: Veracious is the formal equivalent of truthful; speaking or representing the truth.
Commonly confused with
- meretricious: Meretricious means apparently attractive but having in reality no value or integrity, while mendacious means actively lying.
Word family
- mendacity (noun): Untruthfulness; a tendency to lie.
Collocations
- mendacious claims
- mendacious propaganda
- thoroughly mendacious
Idioms & expressions
- lying through one's teeth
- economical with the truth
Example sentences
- "The politician launched a campaign against the tabloid, calling its reporting mendacious and utterly without factual basis." A public attack on a dishonest tabloid newspaper.
- "He was so thoroughly mendacious that even his family stopped believing his stories about his career accomplishments." A character study of a dishonest individual.
Memory hook
Think of 'mend-ashes'. A liar has to constantly 'mend' the 'ashes' of their burnt-down stories to keep them looking real. Mending a broken story with more lies.
When not to use
Do not use in casual conversation; calling your friend 'mendacious' for a small joke will sound overly dramatic and stuffy.
Fun facts
- The root 'menda' also gives us the word 'amend' (to remove faults or improve), showing how we try to fix what is broken or blemished.
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