barefaced lie

barefaced lie

A blatantly obvious or impudent untruth, one in which the liar does not attempt to disguise their mendacity. My opponent's assertion that I intend to raise the tax rates is baseless; it is nothing but a barefaced lie.
See also: barefaced, lie
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

barefaced lie

A shameless falsehood. For example, Bill could tell a barefaced lie with a straight face. The adjective barefaced means "beardless," and one theory is that in the 1500s this condition was considered brazen in all but the youngest males. By the late 1600s barefaced also meant "brazen" or "bold," the meaning alluded to in this phrase.
See also: barefaced, lie
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
See also:
  • barefaced lie/liar
  • bold-faced lie
  • bald-faced lie
  • barefaced
  • barefaced liar
  • baldfaced
  • bald-faced liar
  • boldface
  • bold-faced liar
  • talk out of turn
References in classic literature
On another occasion he came almost completely to grief by flinging a whole dish of cutlets at an officer who was acting as steward, attacking him and, it was said, striking him for having broken his word and told a barefaced lie. He would certainly have been reduced to the ranks had not the Director of the College hushed up the whole matter and dismissed the steward.
Miss Ophelia was so indignant at the barefaced lie, that she caught the child and shook her.
It is disheartening that one barefaced lie appears to have sent Pakistan's anti-polio efforts back, possibly by decades.
It is a reflection of a mindset that one can get away with a barefaced lie because we were born 30 minutes ago, gullible to chicanery like her father's bogus war medals.
Amazingly, no local media ever questioned this barefaced lie which caused so much harm to the sport.
Aeron Maldwyn Jones, a Llais Gwynedd councillor from Bethesda Bach near Caernarfon, and his friend Sion Jones from Bethel, a Labour councillor standing in the Assembly election in May, were competing in S4C's Celwydd Noeth (Barefaced Lie): contestants are presented with statements and have to pick the lie from among the truths.
According to Indian nuclear experts, their countrys decision to build a nuclear force was taken only in the late 1980s, a barefaced lie, especially after it had become clear to them that Pakistan, with Chinese technological assistance, had made advances in the nuclear weapons programme.
Mrs Holgate replied: "That's a barefaced lie - I didn't say it in the first place."
That claim looks more and more like a barefaced lie following the spending spree they have now promised in a blind panic.
"First of all, I want to confirm that statements by the US Secretary of State and British government are inconsistent with reality and a barefaced lie," Zouabi told the media.
Syria's information minister said the accusations that the regime may have used chemical weapons are a "barefaced lie." "First of all, I want to confirm that statements by the US Secretary of State and British government are inconsistent with reality and a barefaced lie," Omran Al Zohbi said.
28 ( ANI ): Syria has dismissed as a "barefaced lie" American and British claims it may have used chemical arms, as staunch ally Russia warned against using such fears to intervene militarily in the strife-torn country.
Summary: Damascus: Syria dismissed as a "barefaced lie" on Saturday American and British claims it ...
"First of all, I want to confirm that statements by the US secretary of state and British government are inconsistent with reality and a barefaced lie. I want to stress one more time Syria would never use it - not only because of its adherence to the international law and rules of leading war, but because of humanitarian and moral issues," Syria's Information Minister Omran Ahed al-Zouabi told Russia Today.
Someone might neglect to tell the whole truth by omitting important information, exaggerating to impress others, downplaying the significance of something known to be crucial, saying something in a deliberately ambiguous way to provide an out, or telling a barefaced lie.