prevaricators
Those who deceive
Prevaricators are people who speak or act evasively to avoid telling the truth directly.
The term is formal and somewhat literary—everyday English prefers liars, though prevaricators suggests something slipperier: not outright lying but dodging, hedging, and misleading.
Politicians are notorious prevaricators.
Tellers of falsehoods
- fabricatorsCreators of falsehoods
- fibbersThose who tell untruths
- falsifiersThose who distort truth
- deceiversThose who mislead intentionally
dissemblers · perjurers · misleaders · fraudsters · impostors · pretenders · hoaxers · tricksters
Noncommittal maneuvering
- sidesteppingMoving aside to avoid
- evasionAct of escaping detection
- obfuscationDeliberate concealment through confusion
- dodgingAvoiding by moving aside
fudging · tergiversation · deflection · quibbling · waffling · dissembling · circumlocution · stalling
Disposition toward falsehood
- duplicityDeliberate misleading behavior
- insincerityLack of genuine feeling
- deceitfulnessDisposition to mislead
- untrustworthinessBeing unreliable or deceitful
guile · deviousness · slipperiness · two-facedness · mendacity · perfidy · fraudulence · cunning
Deliberate untruths
- falsehoodsDeliberate untruths
- fabricationsInvented untrue statements
- misrepresentationsUntrue depictions of reality
- untruthsAssertions contrary to fact
fibs · whoppers · distortions · half-truths · tall tales · misinformation · disinformation · spin
liars
Tellers of falsehoods
- fabricatorsCreators of falsehoods
- fibbersThose who tell untruths
- falsifiersThose who distort truth
deceivers · dissemblers · perjurers · misleaders · fraudsters · impostors · pretenders · hoaxers · tricksters · mythomaniacs
hedging
Noncommittal maneuvering
- sidesteppingMoving aside to avoid
- evasionAct of escaping detection
- obfuscationDeliberate concealment through confusion
dodging · fudging · tergiversation · deflection · quibbling · waffling · dissembling · circumlocution · stalling · misdirection
dishonesty
Disposition toward falsehood
- duplicityDeliberate misleading behavior
- insincerityLack of genuine feeling
- deceitfulnessDisposition to mislead
untrustworthiness · guile · deviousness · slipperiness · two-facedness · mendacity · perfidy · fraudulence · cunning · craftiness
lies
Deliberate untruths
- falsehoodsDeliberate untruths
- fabricationsInvented untrue statements
- misrepresentationsUntrue depictions of reality
untruths · fibs · whoppers · distortions · half-truths · tall tales · misinformation · disinformation · spin · cover stories