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mendacious
adjective
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Mendacious and lying have very similar meanings, but the two are not interchangeable. Mendacious is more formal and literary, suggesting a deception harmless enough to be considered somewhat bland. Lying is more blunt, accusatory, and often confrontational. You might yell, "You lying rat!" in an argument, but you would most likely stick to the more diplomatic, "Aren't you being somewhat mendacious?" in a business meeting. Mendacious can also imply habitual untruthfulness, whereas lying is more likely to be used to identify specific instances of dishonesty.
dishonest, deceitful, mendacious, untruthful mean unworthy of trust or belief.
dishonest implies a willful perversion of truth in order to deceive, cheat, or defraud.
deceitful usually implies an intent to mislead and commonly suggests a false appearance or double-dealing.
mendacious may suggest bland or even harmlessly mischievous deceit and when used of people often suggests a habit of telling untruths.
untruthful stresses a discrepancy between what is said and fact or reality.
Examples of mendacious in a Sentence
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mendacious.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Mendacious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mendacious. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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mendacious
adjective
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