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YOUR VOCABULARY, ONE WORD AT A TIME

Mendacious

Adjective

IPA /mɛnˈdeɪʃəs/

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Meaning in plain English

Not telling the truth; habitually dishonest or lying.

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Pronunciation

Mendacious/mɛnˈdeɪʃəs/

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  1. What actually happened

  2. A knowingly false account

A mendacious statement is deliberately untruthful.

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  1. The politician’s mendacious claims were exposed by multiple fact-checkers.
  2. She grew tired of his mendacious excuses and walked away for good.

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The politician’s ________ claims were exposed by multiple fact-checkers.
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Mendacious — Not telling the truth; habitually dishonest or lying.

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Not telling the truth; habitually dishonest or lying.

Compare: The politician’s mendacious claims were exposed by multiple fact-checkers.

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Word origin

From Latin mendax, mendacis meaning “lying, false,” related to mentīrī—“to lie.”

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Mendacious is a formal adjective: a mendacious statement contains lies. Mendacity is the related noun.

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Mendacious

/mɛnˈdeɪʃəs/ (Adjective)

“Formal and strongly critical: use mendacious for dishonest statements or people. Calling a statement mendacious alleges that it is untruthful.”

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