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.]