Basic Details
Word: Liar
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A person who tells lies, saying things they know are not true.
Synonyms: deceiver, fibber, cheat
Sounds like: lyre (a small stringed harp played in ancient Greece)
How to Spell Liar
Syllables: li - ar
Tricky part: Most people-nouns end in er (teacher, writer), so students write lier. Liar ends in ar, and the i comes before the a.
Watch out for: lyer, liyar, laiar
Memory tip: Liar ends in ar like burglar and beggar - two more people you would not want to trust with your money.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The detective soon worked out which of the three witnesses was the liar.
Example 2: In the fable, the shepherd boy was such a liar that no one believed him when the wolf really came.
Example 3: I am a terrible liar, because my face always gives me away.
Fun Fact
Greek thinkers puzzled over the liar paradox: if someone says 'I am lying right now', the statement is false if it is true and true if it is false.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the word closest in meaning to liar as used in the sentence:
Nobody trusted the shopkeeper after he was caught out as a liar twice in one week.
a) witness
b) truth-teller
c) deceiver
d) customer
Show answer
c) deceiver. A liar deceives people, so deceiver is the match; truth-teller is the opposite.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
Nobody believes him any more, because he is a known ailr.
a) rail
b) lair
c) lira
d) liar
Show answer
d) liar. All four use the same letters, so the sentence decides: only a person can be believed, and that person is a liar.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Everyone laughed when the boy who claimed to own a pet lion was shown to be a lyer by his own holiday photographs.
a) photographs
b) lyer
c) laughed
d) claimed
Show answer
b) lyer. The word for someone who lies keeps the i of lie and ends in ar: l-i-a-r.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which pair of words sound the same but have different meanings?
a) liar and lawyer
b) liar and layer
c) liar and lair
d) liar and lyre
Show answer
d) liar and lyre
2. A person is called a liar when they ____.
a) speak too loudly
b) forget a fact by mistake
c) knowingly say what is untrue
d) refuse to speak at all
Show answer
c) knowingly say what is untrue
