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# liar

«liar» in Mova's school dictionary: **a person who tells lies, saying things they know are not…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a liar, liars)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A liar is a person who tells lies, saying things they know are not true to trick someone. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/liar/#m1)

2) Calling someone a liar means you think they are not telling the truth. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/liar/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In lessons on truth, lies and tricks, «liar» teaches that people who lie lose trust; in stories like «The Boy Who Cried Wolf» nobody believes the liar when the truth matters. Calling someone a liar is a strong, rude thing to say, so it is better to say «I don't think that's true». Phrases: «a terrible liar» (bad at lying), «a big liar», «liar, liar, pants on fire» (a playground rhyme).

### examples

- The boy who cried wolf was a liar, so nobody came to help. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/liar/#x1)
- Don't call your sister a liar; ask her what happened. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/liar/#x2)
- He is a terrible liar; he always goes red. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/liar/#x3)
- A good friend is not a liar. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/liar/#x4)
- Nobody believed the liar when he finally told the truth. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/liar/#x5)
- The detective worked out who the liar was. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/liar/#x6)
- Liar, liar, pants on fire! shouted the children in the story. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/liar/#x7)
- "You are an impudent liar!" cried the genius. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/liar/#x8)

### note

Spelled «-ar», not «-er» (a common spelling trap). Verb «lie, lied, lying» (tell an untrue thing); do not mix with «lie, lay, lain» (to lie down). Saying something wrong by mistake does not make you a liar; a liar knows it is untrue.

### In the corpora

- [Calling someone a liar or a drunk is rude, so people reach for softer words.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/29-lying-and-drinking/0/)
- [Some lies hurt the liar most.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/337-excuses-and-the-lies-that-grow/9/)
- [«All politicians are liars» is an exaggeration; some lie, some don't, and many do a mix.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/442-politicians-and-promises-as-the-news-reports-them/42/)
- [A check isn't only for catching liars.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/451-the-check-that-settles-it/17/)
- [Noah felt stupid — but the shame belongs to the liar, not to the person who trusted.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/452-being-lied-to-and-how-it-feels/17/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «liar» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/L/liar/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.