Fibber's tale
- noun
- Informal
- Her explanation sounded like just another Fibber's tale made to get out of trouble.
Examples
-
It turned out the story of the haunted house was a Fibber's tale spread by kids in the neighborhood.
-
He spun a Fibber's tale about catching a giant fish, but nobody believed him.
-
Don't believe his Fibber's tale!
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She told a Fibber's tale about her vacation.
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He spun a Fibber's tale about catching a giant fish, but nobody believed him.
-
Her explanation sounded like just another Fibber's tale made to get out of trouble.
-
It turned out the story of the haunted house was a Fibber's tale spread by kids in the neighborhood.
Synonyms
40
3.4
A made-up story told to hide the truth or deceive people
36
4.9
A false story told to trick or impress people
29
5.1
A false story someone tells, often small and harmless
27
4.6
A made-up story used to avoid blame or trick people
23
4.0
A story that says things are bigger or more amazing than they really are to be funny
20
7.2
A long story that is probably not true
17
7.5
A lie told to avoid trouble
1
5.5
A made up story told to hide the truth
Antonyms
How False
Surface Forms
Morphology
Fibber's + tale
The meaning 'a fabricated or invented story told by someone who lies' is directly compositional from 'fibber' (a person who tells fibs/lies) + 'tale' (a story), with the possessive indicating ownership/attribution. This follows regular English derivation (fib → fibber) and noun composition patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Fibber's tale comes from fibber, a person who tells a fib, a small lie, and tale, a story. Imagine someone known as a fibber making up an exciting story to trick others, so Fibber's tale now means 'a made-up story' or 'a lie'.