mendacity
/mɛnˈdæsəti/ noun
Forms mendacities
- noun (uncountable) The fact or condition of being untruthful; dishonesty.
- noun (countable) A deceit, falsehood, or lie.
Antonyms
Etymology
From Late Latin mendacitas, from Latin mendāx (“deceitful, deceptive, lying”) + -itās (suffix forming nouns indicating a state of being). Mendāx is derived from mentior (“to deceive, lie”) (from mēns, mentis (“mind; intellect; judgment, reasoning”), from Proto-Indo-European *méntis (“thought”)) + -āx (suffix forming adjectives expressing a tendency or inclination), or from Proto-Indo-European *mend- (“to fault”). By surface analysis, Latin mendāc- + -ity.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The quality or state of being mendacious; a habit of lying.
- noun A falsehood; a lie. Sir T. Browne.
Etymology [L. mendacitas.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “mendacity”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details