See white lie in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for white lie meaning in English (7.5kB)
{
"forms": [
{
"form": "white lies",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "white lie (plural white lies)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2008 July 15, Jacqueline Stenson, “The Whole Truth: When is it okay to lie to your kids?”, in Newsweek, retrieved 2017-09-14",
"text": "An occasional little white lie such as Weston's probably won't cause any lasting damage. And at times, telling the truth—particularly the whole truth to a child who's not at an age to handle it—may do more harm than good, they say.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2012, “Super Rich Kids”, in channel Orange, performed by Frank Ocean ft. Earl Sweatshirt",
"text": "Too many joy rides in daddy's Jaguar / Too many white lies and white lines",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2021, “Hard To Find”, in Parallel World, performed by Cadence Weapon",
"text": "What the next man knows, where the next man goes / Telling white lies ‘bout black folks",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A deliberately untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result; especially, one which is judged to be better than an overhonest alternative, as for example to remain polite in a superficial social exchange, or to choose one's battles."
],
"id": "en-white_lie-en-noun-oJy~kbV-",
"links": [
[
"deliberate",
"deliberate"
],
[
"untrue",
"untrue"
],
[
"statement",
"statement"
],
[
"intend",
"intend"
],
[
"favorable",
"favorable"
],
[
"result",
"result"
],
[
"overhonest",
"overhonest"
],
[
"polite",
"polite"
],
[
"superficial",
"superficial"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) A deliberately untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result; especially, one which is judged to be better than an overhonest alternative, as for example to remain polite in a superficial social exchange, or to choose one's battles."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "little white lie"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "blagoródna lǎžá",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "благоро́дна лъжа́"
},
{
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "mentida inofensiva"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "善意的謊言"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "shànyì de huǎngyán",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "善意的谎言"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "白色謊言"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "báisè huǎngyán",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "白色谎言"
},
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "hvid løgn"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "leugen om bestwil"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "valkoinen valhe"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "mensonge officieux"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "pieux mensonge"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "soziale Lüge"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "Notlüge"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "kegyes hazugság"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "bugia bianca"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "bugia pietosa"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "bugia a fin di bene"
},
{
"alt": "あくいのないうそ",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "akui no nai uso",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "悪意のない嘘"
},
{
"alt": "つみのないうそ",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "tsumi no nai uso",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "罪のない嘘"
},
{
"code": "la",
"lang": "Latin",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "pia fraus"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "hvit løgn"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "bajer"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "mentira branca"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "mentirinha"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "nevínnaja ložʹ",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "неви́нная ложь"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "mentirilla"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "mentirijilla"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "mentira piadosa"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "vit lögn"
},
{
"code": "tr",
"lang": "Turkish",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "beyaz yalan"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"white lie"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-white lie.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/4f/En-au-white_lie.ogg/En-au-white_lie.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/En-au-white_lie.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "white lie"
}
{
"forms": [
{
"form": "white lies",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "white lie (plural white lies)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English idioms",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2008 July 15, Jacqueline Stenson, “The Whole Truth: When is it okay to lie to your kids?”, in Newsweek, retrieved 2017-09-14",
"text": "An occasional little white lie such as Weston's probably won't cause any lasting damage. And at times, telling the truth—particularly the whole truth to a child who's not at an age to handle it—may do more harm than good, they say.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2012, “Super Rich Kids”, in channel Orange, performed by Frank Ocean ft. Earl Sweatshirt",
"text": "Too many joy rides in daddy's Jaguar / Too many white lies and white lines",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2021, “Hard To Find”, in Parallel World, performed by Cadence Weapon",
"text": "What the next man knows, where the next man goes / Telling white lies ‘bout black folks",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A deliberately untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result; especially, one which is judged to be better than an overhonest alternative, as for example to remain polite in a superficial social exchange, or to choose one's battles."
],
"links": [
[
"deliberate",
"deliberate"
],
[
"untrue",
"untrue"
],
[
"statement",
"statement"
],
[
"intend",
"intend"
],
[
"favorable",
"favorable"
],
[
"result",
"result"
],
[
"overhonest",
"overhonest"
],
[
"polite",
"polite"
],
[
"superficial",
"superficial"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) A deliberately untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result; especially, one which is judged to be better than an overhonest alternative, as for example to remain polite in a superficial social exchange, or to choose one's battles."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"wikipedia": [
"white lie"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-white lie.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/4f/En-au-white_lie.ogg/En-au-white_lie.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/En-au-white_lie.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "little white lie"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "blagoródna lǎžá",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "благоро́дна лъжа́"
},
{
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "mentida inofensiva"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "善意的謊言"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "shànyì de huǎngyán",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "善意的谎言"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "白色謊言"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "báisè huǎngyán",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "白色谎言"
},
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "hvid løgn"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "leugen om bestwil"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "valkoinen valhe"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "mensonge officieux"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "pieux mensonge"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "soziale Lüge"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "Notlüge"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "kegyes hazugság"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "bugia bianca"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "bugia pietosa"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "bugia a fin di bene"
},
{
"alt": "あくいのないうそ",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "akui no nai uso",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "悪意のない嘘"
},
{
"alt": "つみのないうそ",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "tsumi no nai uso",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "罪のない嘘"
},
{
"code": "la",
"lang": "Latin",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "pia fraus"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "hvit løgn"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "bajer"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "mentira branca"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "mentirinha"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "nevínnaja ložʹ",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "неви́нная ложь"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "mentirilla"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "mentirijilla"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "mentira piadosa"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "vit lögn"
},
{
"code": "tr",
"lang": "Turkish",
"sense": "deliberate untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result",
"word": "beyaz yalan"
}
],
"word": "white lie"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.