People are imperfect, and we’ve all told a fib once or twice in our lives. But what happens when a person’s lying gets out of hand?
If you’re wondering what to call a person who lies constantly, you’ve come to the right place!
Below, we’ve compiled a list and great words and phrases for someone who just can’t tell the truth.
Words for Someone Who Lies All the Time
- Pathological liar
- Inveterate liar
- Barefaced liar
- Compulsive liar
- Lies like a rug
- Habitual liar
- Chronic liar
- Persistent liar
- Truth-bender
- Deceiver
- Fibber
- Fabricator
- Prevaricator
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- A “pathological liar” lies for no reason because of an internal compulsion to do so.
- An “inveterate liar” lies so frequently out of habit that they may start to believe their own mistruths.
- When someone shamelessly lies all the time and barely tries to hide it, they are a “barefaced liar.”
Stick around! In the next section, we’ll discuss our top three phrases for a person who lies all the time.
After that, we’ll provide some helpful example sentences using each.
Pathological Liar
Merriam-Webster defines a “pathological liar” as “a person who lies compulsively, usually for no external gain or benefit and often with detrimental consequences.”
Moreover, the word “pathological” comes from “pathology” which is the study of diseases. By implication, a “pathological liar’s” behavior tends to be routed in some form of mental illness.
Therefore, they may not know why they feel the need to lie so frequently, and they may have trouble stopping even though they are aware of the negative consequences.
It is also said that pathological liars make up and maintain such detailed fabrications that they start to believe their own mistruths.
Therefore, over time, they may have a strained relationship with reality, making it all the more tricky to discern the facts from fiction!
Finally, let’s see a couple of example sentences making use of this phrase:
Unfortunately, Trisha is a pathological liar, just like her father.
I would describe him as a pathological liar who greatly exaggerates everything, but he is oddly self-aware regardless.
Inveterate Liar
If you want to know what to call someone who lies a lot without dipping too heavily into the psychological side of things, you can go with “inveterate liar.”
The Cambridge Dictionary defines “inveterate” as “someone who does something very often and cannot stop doing it.”
Therefore, an “inveterate liar” is someone who can’t stop lying because they’ve made a habit of it.
Unlike a pathological liar, an “inveterate liar” may not lie because of an impulse to do so that stems from some disorder or mental illness.
Rather, their tendency to lie persists because they have built a life around their falsehoods and, therefore, must keep lying to maintain what they have created.
Like a gambler or a smoker, they have formed some dependency on their lies, and they may even start to believe themselves because of how persistent they are.
Therefore, let’s see how we might use this phrase in a couple of examples:
Cole is an inveterate liar; you’re better off asking the wealthy prince in your emails for help.
I became an inveterate liar later in my life, and it took years to break out of the cycle of deceit I had created.
Barefaced Liar
A “barefaced liar” is a name for someone who lies all the time without a hint of remorse.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines “barefaced” as “not showing any shame about, or trying to hide, your bad behavior.”
In other words, a barefaced liar does not lie out of habit or compulsion. They lie completely intentionally because they simply do not care about the consequences.
After all, the term “barefaced” refers to the fact that the person’s face is bare – they are wearing no mask and have no desire to conceal the fact that they are deceiving you.
Therefore, they lie because they want to lie, and they don’t even make an effort to truly disguise the lie!
A “barefaced liar” knows that their mistruths will likely be exposed and that they will probably be caught out. However, they simply don’t care.
Therefore, let’s see this phrase used in a couple of examples!
Your uncle is a barefaced liar; he once convinced your daddy that he was adopted for three days.
Why, you’re nothing but a barefaced liar! Have you considered a career in law?