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mendacious

 - 3 dictionary results

men⋅da⋅cious

  [men-dey-shuhs]
Use mendacious in a Sentence
–adjective
1. telling lies, esp. habitually; dishonest; lying; untruthful: a mendacious person.
2. false or untrue: a mendacious report.
Origin:
1610–20; < L mendāci- (see mendacity ) + -ous

Related forms:
men⋅da⋅cious⋅ly, adverb
men⋅da⋅cious⋅ness, noun

Antonyms:
1, 2. veracious.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To mendacious
men·da·cious   (měn-dā'shəs)   
adj.  

  1. Lying; untruthful: a mendacious child.

  2. False; untrue: a mendacious statement. See Synonyms at dishonest.


[From Latin mendācium, lie, from mendāx, mendāc-, mendacious.]
men·da'cious·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

mendacious 
1616, from M.Fr. mendacieux, from L. mendacium "a lie," from mendax (gen. mendacis) "lying, deceitful," related to menda "fault, defect, carelessness in writing" (cf. amend, mendicant), from PIE base *mend- "physical defect, fault." The sense evolution of mendax influenced by mentiri "to speak falsely, lie, deceive." Mendacity is attested from 1646.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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