white lie

plural white lies · alternative little white lie

1. idiomaticA 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.

   Too many joy rides in daddy's Jaguar / Too many white lies and white lines

   2012, “Super Rich Kids”, in channel Orange, performed by Frank Ocean ft. Earl Sweatshirt

   3 more examples

   The prevarication and white lies which a mind that keeps itself ambitiously pure is as uneasy under as a great artist under the false touches that no eye detects but his own, are worn as lightly as mere trimmings when once the actions have become a lie.

   1861, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XIII, in Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, part I, page 239

   An occasional little white lie such as Weston's probably won't cause any lasting damage. And at times, telling the truth—particularly the whole truth to a child who's not at an age to handle it—may do more harm than good, they say.

   2008 July 15, Jacqueline Stenson, “The Whole Truth: When is it okay to lie to your kids?”, in Newsweek, retrieved 14 Sep 2017

   What the next man knows, where the next man goes / Telling white lies ‘bout black folks

   2021, “Hard To Find”, in Parallel World, performed by Cadence Weapon

   Synonyms: fib