out of whole cloth
idiom
US, informal
: in order to trick someone into believing what is not true
He would make up stories out of whole cloth just to stir up trouble.
Examples of out of whole cloth in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Since crashing the scene late last year, AI chatbots such as ChatGPT have proven themselves capable of crafting college admissions essays, producing viral images out of whole cloth, and spooking everyone from curious journalists to Silicon Valley tech execs.
—
Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 26 May 2023
Some of the Conjuring universe movies are entirely made up out of whole cloth but this one is inspired by a real incident, a real court case.
—Clark Collis, EW.com, 1 June 2021
Creating jobs out of whole cloth was one of her specialties.
—Longreads, 18 May 2021
Perry Mason, the first season of which is clearly modeled after a superhero origin story, invents an elaborate backstory out of whole cloth for the character, and grounds it, naturally, in trauma.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 25 June 2020
See all Example Sentences for out of whole cloth 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 26 May 2023
Some of the Conjuring universe movies are entirely made up out of whole cloth but this one is inspired by a real incident, a real court case.
—Clark Collis, EW.com, 1 June 2021
Creating jobs out of whole cloth was one of her specialties.
—Longreads, 18 May 2021
Perry Mason, the first season of which is clearly modeled after a superhero origin story, invents an elaborate backstory out of whole cloth for the character, and grounds it, naturally, in trauma.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 25 June 2020
See all Example Sentences for out of whole cloth
Dictionary Entries Near out of whole cloth
Cite this Entry
“Out of whole cloth.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/out%20of%20whole%20cloth. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share