fib

American  

[fib] / fɪb /

noun

1. a small or trivial lie; minor falsehood.

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verb (used without object)

fibbed, fibbing

1. to tell a fib.

fib British  

/ fɪb /

noun

1. a trivial and harmless lie

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verb

1. (intr) to tell such a lie

Related Words

See falsehood.

Other Word Forms

• fibber noun
• fibster noun
• unfibbing adjective

Etymology

Origin of fib

1560–70; short for fibble-fable nonsense, gradational compound based on fable

Example Sentences

“And anyway, I don’t care what you say. I think it’s true what she told me about the elephant. She’s not fibbing, she’s not making it up, I know she isn’t. I can tell.”

From Literature

Although the last part was a bit of a fib, I hoped the mention of family would put him in a sensible frame of mind.

From Literature

After an overconfident miller fibs that his daughter can spin straw into gold, a greedy king locks the poor girl in a room full of straw.

From The Wall Street Journal

He didn’t know diddly about ships or sailing, so he had to tell a big fib to get a job as a cabin boy.

From Literature

Stunned by her blatant fibbing, I backed off.

From MarketWatch