pious fiction
Benevolent false belief
A pious fiction is a statement known to be false but maintained because it serves a moral, social, or institutional purpose.
The fiction is "pious" in the sense of being well-intentioned—a lie told to preserve dignity, spare feelings, or uphold useful beliefs: The official story about his resignation was a pious fiction; everyone knew he'd been fired.
The phrase often carries a note of cynicism about the gap between public narratives and private knowledge.
- apologueAllegorical narrative with lesson
- moral fableDidactic story with lesson
- taleSpoken or written narrative
- tall taleWildly exaggerated story
- old wives' taleUnfounded traditional belief
parable · legend · fabrication · myth · hagiography · Midrash · pseudepigrapha · good book · invention · untruth · fable · story · religious allegory · allegory · spiritual teachings · religious devotion · exemplum · eternal truths
pious fictionbrutal honesty
Unsparing directness in speech
hard truth · harsh truth · unvarnished truth · naked truth · harsh reality
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