barefaced lie

English

Alternative forms

• baldfaced lie
• boldfaced lie

Etymology

barefaced ('unconcealed, audacious, shameless') + lie.

Noun

barefaced lie (plural barefaced lies)

1. A falsehood told with utter confidence and without trying to conceal the fact that it is false, especially a planned or deliberate falsehood.

   I understand that salespeople try to explain things in a positive way, but that was a barefaced lie.

Translations

falsehood told with utter confidence without trying to conceal the fact that it is false

Icelandic: haugalygi f, (to tell somebody a barefaced lie) ljúga upp í opið geðið á einhverjum

See also

• poker face

References

• Michael Quinion (2004) “Barefaced lie”, in Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, →ISBN.