What does lying mean?
Lying has two widely used senses that are easy to confuse. As a participle, it describes a person or thing resting in a horizontal, reclined, or supported position, as in “lying on the bed.” As an adjective or gerund, it concerns dishonesty: a lying account is false, and someone who speaks with the intention of deceiving is lying. The dishonest sense carries a strong implication of deliberate misrepresentation, although it can sometimes be applied to a statement made without realizing it is false. Because the same form refers both to a posture and to untruthful speech, careful context is essential. The related word liar names a person who habitually tells lies. A closely related spelling distinction is that people or animals lie down, while people lay something down.
Telling falsehoods or characterized by deliberate untruthfulness.
"The politician dismissed the report as a lie."
The adjective normally implies dishonesty and is commonly used in phrases such as “a lying statement” and “a lying account.”
In a reclined or supported position.
"Several children were lying on the grass."
This use can refer to a person, an animal, or an object that is positioned flat or supported elsewhere.
The act or practice of telling falsehoods.
"The company denied any lying in its financial reports."
This use is usually abstract or mass-like and does not have a regular countable plural.
Lying can describe dishonesty—or simply being horizontal, depending on what you are doing.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does lying come from?
Modern lying is the participle and gerund of two distinct Old English verbs. The positional sense comes from licgan, “to lie or recline,” whose relatives include Dutch liggen and German liegen; English recline belongs to the same historical root. The dishonest sense comes from līċan, “to deceive,” related to Dutch leugen and German lügen. The two Old English verbs were unrelated even though their modern forms can overlap in meaning through their shared inflection.
Related word forms
How lying is actually used
In the positional sense, lying is standard in both British and American English. In the ethical sense, it normally implies deliberate deception rather than an accidental mistake, though a lie can also be made in ignorance of the truth. The spelling distinction from laying is important when describing either posture or the act of placing something down.
Easily confused with lying
Lying describes a person or thing in a reclined position, whereas laying describes someone or something placing an object down.