lie

A false statement made with the intent to deceive; an untruth.

How to use

'Lie' as a noun means an untrue statement made to deceive, as in 'That was a lie.' A 'white lie' is a small, harmless lie told to avoid hurting someone's feelings. Learners often confuse the noun 'lie' (a false statement) with the unrelated verb 'lie' meaning 'to rest in a horizontal position' (as in 'lie down') — these are two different words that happen to be spelled the same.