DictionaryAI

liar

noun
USLY-ur/ˈlaɪ.ɚ/UKLY-uh/ˈlaɪ.ə/

Pluralliars

2 meanings of liar

Practice

  1. 1
    dishonest personnouncountable
    Someone who tells lies, whether out of habit or on one particular occasion.

    The witness was exposed as a liar when the security footage contradicted her story.

    He may be many things, but he has never been a liar.

    UsageSpelled liar (not incorrect: lier), unlike teacher or writer. Often in call someone a liar.

    Similarfibber, deceiver, fabricator

  2. 2
    ship cleanernounobsolete
    On old sailing ships, a sailor who served under the swabber and scrubbed the outside of the vessel, a post held for a week by the first man caught lying on Monday morning.
    The swabber, perhaps the lowliest position on the ship, was responsible for cleaning the decks. By tradition, each Monday a new crewmember was appointed the liar—the first person caught telling a lie the previous week.
    2005, Caleb H. Johnson, The Mayflower and Her Passengers
    Note

    Here a punishment became a job title. Sir William Monson's Naval Tracts set the liar's work "without board," outside the ship, against the swabber's cleaning "within board," and the post changed hands every Monday. Today it turns up in histories of sailing ships, such as Caleb H. Johnson's The Mayflower and Her Passengers, which calls the swabber perhaps the lowliest position on the ship.

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

    • The cleaning assignment was imposed as punishment for lying. gutenberg.org
    • Sir William Monson wrote the Naval Tracts. navyrecords.org.uk
    • Monson contrasts the liar's cleaning outside the ship with the swabber's cleaning inside, using the quoted expressions. en.wiktionary.org
    • The liar was appointed each Monday. en.wikipedia.org
    • Caleb H. Johnson wrote The Mayflower and Her Passengers. xlibris.com
    • Johnson's book discusses the liar and describes the swabber as perhaps the ship's lowliest position. en.wiktionary.org

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Origin

Old English had lēgere or lēogere (“liar, false witness, hypocrite”), which became Middle English lier or liere. It goes back to Proto-Germanic *leugārijaz (“liar”), made from *leuganą (“to lie”) plus *-ārijaz, so in English terms it is lie + -ar.