243. Lies and Lying

See also 402. TRUTH and ERROR .

accismus

Rhetoric . an affected or false refusal.

autothaumaturgist

one who pretends to be notable or mysterious.

fabulist

a person who tells lies.

falsism

anything that is patently false or untrue.

hypocrisy

the condition of a person pretending to be something he is not, especially in the area of morals or religion; a false presentation of belief or feeling. — hypocrite , n . — hypocritic, hypocritical , adj .

mendacity

1. untruthfulness; the act or process of lying.

2. a lie or untruth. — mendacious , adj .

mountebankism

boastful and pretentious behavior; quackery or any actions typical of a mountebank. Also mountebankery .

mythomania

Psychiatry . an abnormal propensity to lie, exaggerate, or twist the truth.

mythophobia

an abnormal fear of making false statements.

perjury

deliberate or willful uttering of untruths when under oath in a court or similar tribunal. — perjurer , n . — perjurious , adj .

polygraph

a lie detecting device. — polygrapher, polygraphist , n . — polygraphic , adj .

pseudism

a lie.

pseudology

1. the act of lying, especially when humorously proposed as an art or system.

2. a pretended field of study. — pseudologer, pseudologist , n . — pseudological , adj .

pseudomancy

a form of divination that is deliberately false or misleading.

pseudomania Psychiatry .

1. pathological lying.

2. a false or pretended mental disorder.

quackery

1. false pretense to medical skill, knowledge, or qualification; medical charlatanry.

2. the actions or practice of a medical charlatan. — quack , n., adj .

quackism

1. the practice of quackery.

2. the behavior or actions of a quack.

Sinonism

an act of perfidy. [Allusion to Sinon, whose false tale persuaded the Trojans to allow the wooden horse within the walls of Troy.]