half truths
Deliberately incomplete statements
Half truths are statements that are technically accurate but deliberately incomplete, designed to mislead by omitting crucial context.
The danger lies in their partial validity—they're harder to refute than outright lies: The ad was full of half truths about the opponent's record.
A half truth often deceives more effectively than a whole lie because it contains enough reality to seem credible.
- liesDeliberate untruths
- white liesMinor benevolent deceptions
- deceptionIntentional misleading of others
- spinRapid rotation around axis
- spin doctorFavorable interpretation specialist
misleading · distortion · omission · manipulation · propaganda · exaggeration · partial · selective · twisting · coverup · evasion · sugarcoating · whitewash · fib · telling tales · dodge · slant · fabrication
- manipulation tacticsgaslighting, guilt trip, guilt-tripping, guilt tripping, emotional blackmail
- empty promiseslip service, broken vows, false hope, hot air, overpromising
- propagandapropaganda, brainwashing, disinformation, misinformation, indoctrination
- smear tacticssmear, smear campaign, mudslinging, attack ads, hit piece
half truthswhole truth
Complete, unvarnished account
full disclosure · plain truth · nothing but the truth · the whole truth · the whole story
half truthscandor
Unguarded truthfulness
frankness · sincerity · openness · forthrightness · transparency
half, truth, halves, halved, halving, halfway, truths, true, truly