make (something) up out of whole cloth
(redirected from make up something 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.
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.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
make something of whole cloth
ormake something up of whole cloth
AMERICANIf 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.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012