Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of mendacious
Explanation
A mendacious person is one who tells lies habitually and intentionally. Don't get stuck at the water cooler or bus stop next to someone you consider mendacious! People may tell "white lies" if they forgot your birthday or really don't like your new haircut, but if you catch someone intentionally manipulating you with a falsehood, that person is just plain mendacious. So think of the most deceptive, insincere, perfidious, duplicitous, false person you've ever met, and then add the word mendacious to that list.
Vocabulary lists containing mendacious
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Everyone understands there’s a truthful side and a mendacious side.
From Slate • Feb. 14, 2025
He posted on X "That speech of Robert Jenrick's was lazy, mendacious, simplistic tripe."
From BBC • Oct. 6, 2024
While some propaganda is mendacious, the most effective propaganda will interlace carefully selected verifiable facts with emotional appeals.
From Salon • Feb. 23, 2024
In a statement on Sunday, Netanyahu's office described the assertion as "mendacious and without any foundation whatsoever."
From Reuters • Apr. 9, 2023
“Especially,” said Charles, “when the batty bandleader is a disingenuous and mendacious charlatan.”
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
