mendacious
men-DAY-shuss
/menˈdeɪ.ʃəs/
Not telling the truth; habitually lying or containing falsehoods.
A formal, high-register term for lying or untruthful statements.
The story behind the word. Latin mendax referred to someone with a moral defect or fault in speech. It shares a deep Indo-European root with 'amend' (to fix a defect). A mendacious person speaks with deliberate flaws in the truth.
Word relationships
- untruthful: Untruthful is standard English, whereas mendacious carries formal weight and often implies habitual lying.
- deceitful: Deceitful emphasizes the intent to trick, while mendacious emphasizes the falsehood of the statements.
- truthful: Truthful means telling or expressing the truth.
- veracious: Veracious is a formal term meaning habitually truthful.
Commonly confused with
- mercenary: Mercenary means motivated solely by money, while mendacious means dishonest or lying.
Word family
- mendacity (noun): Untruthfulness; a tendency to lie.
- mendaciously (adverb): In a lying or dishonest manner.
Collocations
- mendacious claim
- mendacious report
- mendacious statement
Idioms & expressions
- economical with the truth
- lying through one's teeth
Example sentences
- "The executive was forced to resign after a series of mendacious statements regarding corporate revenue were uncovered." Political scandal
Memory hook
MEN-DAY-shuss: MEN telling lies all DAY long. Habitually untruthful.
When not to use
Avoid in casual conversation where 'lying' or 'untruthful' sounds more natural.
Fun facts
- Winston Churchill famously avoided calling opponents 'liars' in Parliament by calling their claims 'mendacious assertions'.
Related words
Also appears in
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