A Word A Day : Mendacious

Thursday, 17th January 2008 : Today's Word is ...

Mendacious


( Adjective )



Pronunciation : men-dáy-sh-ess


1. having lied in the past, or prone to lying at any time

2. deliberately untrue

3. given to lying


Etymology:


From Latin mendācium, lie, from mendāx - mendāc - mendacious - 1616, from M.Fr. mendacieux, from L. mendacium "a lie," from mendax (gen. mendacis) "lying, deceitful," related to menda "fault, defect, carelessness in writing" (cf. amend, mendicant), from PIE base *mend- "physical defect, fault." The sense evolution of mendax influenced by mentiri "to speak falsely, lie, deceive." Mendacity is attested from 1646.


Synonyms:


deceitful, deceptive, duplicitous, equivocating, erroneous, fallacious, false, fibbing, fraudulent, insincere, knavish, lying, paltering, perfidious, perjured, prevaricating, shifty, spurious, untrue, untruthful, wrong


Antonyms:


honest, loyal, straightforward, trustworthy, truthful, upright

NOTE:

Ddeceitful means intended to deceive or cheat while deceptive means causing one to believe what is not true or likely to mislead someone.


Contextual Examples:


• Children are naturally mendacious. If you ask them what they are doing, they will automatically answer nothing.

• The jury saw through the mendacious witness and convicted the defendant.

• To be mendacious is to engage in mendacity or lying. I have no flaws, except occasional mendacity.

• Mildred had become great friends with her and had given her an elaborate but mendacious account of the circumstances which had brought her to the pass she was in.

• Don't confuse the word mendacious with mendicant.


Related Words:



mendaciously : Adverb

mendacity : Noun

mendaciousness : Noun


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