make (something) up out of whole cloth

make (something) up out of whole cloth

To fabricate something entirely fictional or utterly false and not based on reality at all. A reference to tailors who would falsely advertise garments being made "out of whole cloth," when, in reality, they were pieced together from different cuts. To be honest, I don't believe a word he says—it sounds like he made it up out of whole cloth to me.

See also: cloth, make, of, out, up, whole

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

make something up out of whole cloth

Fig. to fabricate a story or a lie. That's a lie. You just made that up out of whole cloth. That's a lie. You just made up that story out of whole cloth.

See also: cloth, make, of, out, up, whole

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

make something of whole cloth

or

make something up of whole cloth

AMERICAN

If someone makes a story or statement of whole cloth or makes up a story or statement of whole cloth, they invent all of it. There are those who say that story was made of whole cloth. It's the biggest journalistic scandal since Jones won a Pulitzer prize for a story she made up from whole cloth. Note: Verbs such as create and invent are sometimes used instead of make. It would not be the first time he had tried to make millions by creating causes out of whole cloth.

See also: cloth, make, of, something, whole

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012