Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An often trivial, diplomatic or well-intentioned untruth.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. a euphemism for such lies as one finds it convenient to tell, and excuses himself for telling.
- adj. See under Lie.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an unimportant lie (especially one told to be tactful or polite)
Examples
“Then, with man's usual consistency, he outlines the white lie by which he is going to break off the association with the Wendlings; and goes on to say that he wishes to form a similar connection with the Weber family.”
The Love Affairs of Great Musicians
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘white lie’.
-
I Am A Starfish. I Speak With Paint.
List title totally stolen from she. Right, the stock entry for this list should be a two-word phrase where one of the words denotes a colour; even better if the expression has some metaphoric value...
black dog, tangerine dream, orange roughy, blue moon, blackguard, white house, purple rain, grey nurse, green thumb, yellow fever, sacre bleu, palo verde and 156 more...
Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.