Idioms

bold-faced lie

bold-faced lie

A blatantly obvious or impudent untruth, one in which the liar does not attempt to disguise their mendacity. Sir, I have never done these things of which you accuse me; they are bold-faced lies, and nothing more. If you keep telling bold-faced lies like this, eventually, no one will believe a thing you say! Our son tells us nothing but bold-faced lies when we ask him where he goes at night.
See also: lie
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

barefaced lie/liar

A shamelessly bold untruth/prevaricator. Bare here means bold-faced or brazen, but one writer speculates that barefaced, which dates from the late sixteenth century, originally meant “beardless,” a condition perhaps considered audacious in all but the youngest men. In any event, by the late seventeenth century it also meant bold and became attached to lie in succeeding years. See also naked truth.
See also: barefaced, liar, lie
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer
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References in periodicals archive
So, there he sat on the kitchen floor, telling a bold-faced lie through that beautiful smile.
In a text to the Sunday Mirror, Chester called the claims "a slanderous bold-faced lie." He also threatened the "full force of my legal team" but would not comment further.
In this political climate, the bold-faced lie bears seemingly little repercussion for politicians seeking office.
Some, like the page "may we live in peace after the death of Bin Laden" expressed joy, while others, like "the death of Bin Laden is a bold-faced lie" alluded to a Western conspiracy.
Although true on a cosmic level, on the planet Earth that's a bold-faced lie. There are 60 million people in Italy.
She warns against telling a potential partner a bold-faced lie because most intelligent people are knowledgeable enough to detect a big pretender.
Whatever their motivation, people are prone to fabricate stories, and in these past few weeks we have been treated to a virtual feast of half-truths and bold-faced lies. All served up at dusk, keeping to the Ramadan tradition.
County employees, media and time and date-stamped photos from SLEEPS have documented that Richardsons's comments are bold-faced lies and leave the county wide open to libel suits.
It is time to expose their flimsy arguments, bold-faced lies and immorality.
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