bent the truth
Lied a little
To bend the truth is to distort facts without outright lying—presenting information in a misleading way while maintaining technical accuracy.
The phrase suggests flexibility where honesty should be rigid: He bent the truth about his qualifications on the résumé.
Someone who bends the truth might omit key details, exaggerate, or frame things to create a false impression.
- little white lieMinor harmless falsehood
- white lieHarmless minor falsehood
- diplomatic languageMeasured speech avoiding offense
- deceptionIntentional misleading of others
- omissionFailure to include
selective memory · misdirection · spin · falsification · fabrication · tall tale · obfuscation · minimization · misstatement · distortion · glossing over · rationalization · embellishment · creative storytelling · skewing · fudged · political rhetoric · sugarcoating