noun🎓 English idiom
white lie
a small, harmless lie told to be polite
What it means
A white lie is a minor untruth told to spare someone's feelings, avoid awkwardness, or keep social peace, rather than to seriously deceive. Common examples include complimenting a bad haircut, claiming to like a meal, or saying you're busy when you'd rather not attend something.
Examples
- I told a white lie about loving the gift.
- A few white lies can make family dinners much smoother.
- Is a white lie still a lie? Probably, but it's a small one.
- She told the kids a white lie about why grandpa wasn't there.
Where it comes from
An 18th-century English expression where 'white' carries the older symbolic sense of innocence, purity, and harmlessness, in contrast with a 'black' or serious lie. The exact phrase is recorded from the early 1700s and was already common in moral and religious writing.
Related idioms
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