little white lie

A form of white lie — A deliberately untrue statement which is intended to produce a favorable result; especially, one which is judged to be better than an overhonest alternative, as for example to remain polite in a superficial social exchange, or to pick one's battles.

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Meanings

nounlittle white lie (plural little white lies)

plural little white lies

  1. alternativeAlternative form of white lie.

    Stop sending letters / Letters always get burned / It's not like the movies / They fed us on little white lies

    2000, “Motion Picture Soundtrack”, in Kid A, performed by Radiohead
    2 more examples

    What did you do then? Why, you made me say to myself, 'Ah, it would have been so much kinder and more blameless to ease him off with a little white lie, and send him away feeling that if he could not have bread, the gentle treatment was at least something to be grateful for!'

    1876 June, Mark Twain, “The Facts Concerning The Recent Carnival Of Crime In Connecticut”, in The Atlantic

    “It’s quite common for people to tell a little white lie when they’re declining invitations,” says Elaine Swann, etiquette expert and author of Elaine Swann’s Book of Modern Etiquette. Swann says people do this to avoid offense and “soften the blow”.

    2025 September 4, Madeleine Aggeler, “I stopped telling ‘little white lies’ for two weeks. This is what I learned”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
Cite this entry
APA

little white lie. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/little%20white%20lie

MLA

“little white lie.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/little%20white%20lie. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “little white lie,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/little%20white%20lie.

Source: little white lie on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.