How do you pronounce liar?

The recorded pronunciation is /ˈlaɪ.ɚ/.

Where does liar come from?

It is traced to Middle English.

liar

/ˈlaɪ.ɚ/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.02 in modern English

Syllables: li-ar
IPA: /ˈlaɪ.ɚ/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Someone who tells a lie; especially, a person who frequently lies.

noun

A swabber responsible for cleaning the outside parts of the ship rather than the cabins, a role traditionally assigned to a person caught telling a lie the previous week.

Obsolete

Example Sentences

"He simply said, "We know, the Big Satan is a big liar.""
"She paused and took a defiant breath. ‘If you don't believe me, I can't help it. But I'm not a liar.’ ¶ ‘No,’ said Luke, grinning at her. ‘You're not dull enough![…]What about the kid's clothes? I don't suppose they were anything to write home about, but didn't you keep anything?[…]’"
"The Swabber is to keep the Cabbins, and all the Rooms of the Ship clean within board, and the Liar to do the like without board. The Liar holds his Place but for a week; and he that is first taken with a Lie upon a Monday morning, […] for that week he is under the Swabber, and meddles not with making clean the Ship within board, but without."
"The swabber, perhaps the lowliest position on the ship, was responsible for cleaning the decks. By tradition, each Monday a new crewmember was appointed the liar—the first person caught telling a lie the previous week."

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English lier, liere, lyere, liȝer, lieȝer, legher, from Old English lēgere, lēogere (“liar, false witness, hypocrite”), from Proto-West Germanic *leugārī, from Proto-Germanic *leugārijaz (“liar”), from *leuganą (“to lie”) + *-ārijaz, equivalent to lie + -ar. More at lie.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: lier, lēgere, *leugārī, *leugārijaz
Suffix: lie

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈlaɪ.ɚ/
British English: /ˈlaɪ.ə/

Usage

Obsolete

Inflected Forms

liars (plural) lyar (alternative, obsolete)

Derived Forms

apocryphiar Bliar nonliar

Phrases

barefaced liar liar dice liar liar pants on fire liar loan liar paradox liar's dividend pathological liar the devil is a liar

Synonyms

bluffer bullshitter contradictor deceiver fabricator fabulist falsifier fibber goofer gossiper nonsenser red flagger

Homonyms

lyre lier

Rhymes With

fire higher entire prior require desire wire hire acquire buyer tire cease-fire