A lie (also called
prevarication), is a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement,
especially with the intention to deceive others, often with the
further intention to maintain a secret or reputation, protect
someone's feelings or to avoid a punishment. To lie is to state something
that one knows to be false or
that one has not reasonably ascertained to be true with the
intention that it be taken for the truth by
oneself or someone else. A liar is a
person who is lying, who has previously lied, or who tends by
nature to lie repeatedly.
Lying is typically used to refer to deceptions in oral or
written communication.[citation
needed] Other forms of deception, such as disguises or forgeries, are generally not considered lies, though
the underlying intent may be the same. However, even a true
statement can be considered a lie if the person making that
statement is doing so to deceive. In this situation, it is the
intent of being untruthful rather than the truthfulness of the
statement itself that is considered.
The various types of lies include the following:
