economical with the truth
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Euphemistm to say someone is lying.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Leopold had been forced to come to terms with several disagreeable flaws in his son's character, including his alarming capacity to be ‘ economical with the truth’ when circumstances demanded.
Looking at the near - sensational claims in the press release — whoring? smuggling?— I see that Mary Kingsley is not alone in being economical with the truth.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Euphemism (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
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Common questions
What does “economical with the truth” mean?
Euphemistm to say someone is lying.
Is “economical with the truth” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
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