Lying & Exaggeration: English Vocabulary List

(of a person) to be perceived as being dishonest or deceptive

"Don't listen to him, he is full of crap."

"Do not believe anything he says because he is full of crap and lies about everything constantly."

to tell things that are completely untrue or foolish

"That guy is full of it."

"I don't believe anything he says because he is full of it and always makes up ridiculous stories."

any statement that is not true at all

"His story is a pack of lies."

"The suspect's entire alibi was a pack of lies and the police quickly proved that he was at the crime scene."

a story that a person cannot believe because it seems illogical or exaggerated

"That is a tall tale."

"The tall tale used obvious exaggeration and larger than life characters to entertain with absurd impossibilities."

to exaggerate a lot about something

"He is talking through the back of his neck."

"The witness was talking through the back of his neck because his story contradicted all the available evidence completely."

a small lie that does not cause any harm, especially told to avoid making someone upset

"She tells a white lie to spare his feelings."

"She tells a white lie to spare his feelings and says his cooking is delicious when it is not."

to behave in a pretentious way to prove one is rich or fashionable

"He likes to put on the dog."

"She always puts on the dog at parties, trying to impress everyone with her expensive clothes."

to praise one's own abilities or accomplishments, often in an exaggerated way

"Do not toot your own horn."

"My coworker is always tooting his own horn about his accomplishments which makes everyone dislike him."

to lie, exaggerate, or boast about something

"He shot a line about winning."

"The boastful salesman shot a line about his incredible sales figures, but no one believed his exaggerated claims."

to tell a story that is exaggerated or completely made up

"She spun a tall tale."

"The children loved listening to their grandfather spin a yarn about his adventures as a young sailor on the high seas."

to tell lies in an obvious way

"He lies like a cheap rug, do not trust him."

"Do not believe a word he says because that man would lie like a cheap rug to get what he wants."

to tell something that involves no truth

"He lies through his teeth."

"She lied through her teeth when she said she had never met him before."

a statement that is untrue, exaggerated, or meaningless

"His speech was just hot air."

"The politician's speech was full of hot air with no concrete plans or solutions."

to use fake praise that makes a person feel good about themselves in order to trick them

"Stop blowing smoke up my ass."

"The salesman was just blowing smoke up my ass when he said this cheap car was the best vehicle ever made."

telling only part of the truth or being vague in speech

"The politician was economical with the truth."

"The politician was being economical with the truth by avoiding the real facts about the budget crisis."

to have a life that is built on lies and deception

"He lives a lie every day."

"For years she had been living a lie, pretending to be someone she was not at all."

to get out of an unfavorable situation or obtain something by telling lies

"He lied his way into the company."

"The con artist lied his way into the company and stole millions of dollars before anyone discovered who he really was."

to make something more complicated than it needs to be

"He over-egged the pudding by adding too many details."

"The director over egged the pudding by adding too many special effects to the movie."

not in any way truthful

"He is full of beans."

"His claims about discovering a cure for the common cold were clearly full of beans and lacked any scientific evidence."

to make something appear more significant, intense, or dramatic than it actually is

"You over-egged the pudding."

"Adding so many unnecessary special effects really over-egged the pudding, making the simple story seem overly dramatic."