white lie
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Sense 1
A small, harmless falsehood told to avoid hurting someone's feelings.
một lời nói dối vô hại nhỏ để tránh làm tổn thương cảm xúc của người khác
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Examples
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Sense 2
A harmless lie, one not told with a malicious intent, a lie told to reconcile people at variance.
Một lời dối vô hại, không nhằm mục đích độc ác
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Era: ca. 1811 (Georgian)
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Grose’s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1811 edition, public domain; Project Gutenberg #5402, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Sense 3
a harmless lie, one told to reconcile people at variance. "Mistress is not at home, sir," is a WHITE LIE often told by servants.
Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “white lie” mean?
A small, harmless falsehood told to avoid hurting someone's feelings. Literally: a lie that is white
Is “white lie” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.