- white lie
- nounan unimportant lie (especially one told to be tactful or polite)• Hypernyms: ↑lie, ↑prevarication
* * *
a minor, polite, or harmless lie; fib.* * *
white lieA minor falsehood, esp one uttered for reasons of tact, etc• • •Main Entry: ↑lie————————white lie nounA forgivable lie, esp one told out of tactfulness• • •Main Entry: ↑white* * *
a lie told to avoid making someone upset, not for your own advantage or in order to harm someone else* * *
white lie,a lie about me small matter; polite or harmless lie.* * *
n. a harmless or trivial lie, esp. one told to avoid hurting someone's feelings* * *
noun, pl ⋯ lies [count]: a lie about a small or unimportant matter that someone tells to avoid hurting another personHe told a (little) white lie as his excuse for missing the party.
* * *
a harmless or small lie, especially one that you tell to avoid hurting sb
Useful english dictionary. 2012.