Sample sentences for WHITE LIE

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Definition

an unimportant lie (especially one told to be polite or helpful)

I told a white lie to bolster her battered ego.

white lie = an unimportant lie told to be helpful

When she takes a vacation from work, she tells a white lie on her email auto-reply. She says she'll be gone a day longer than she will really be gone, so she has a day to clean out her inbox.

white lie = an unimportant lie

When my girlfriend noticed my glance linger on another pretty girl, I told her a white lie. I said that I was thinking that the girl's outfit would look good on her.

white lie = an unimportant lie told to be tactful

"So you lied," I said.
"A white lie, but yes. Sorry," she said, trying to smile, but when I didn't smile back, she turned around in her seat and faced forward.
R.J. Palacio -- Wonder

white lie = an unimportant lie (told to be helpful)

"You told me it was an IQ test," I said.
"I know, well, that was a white lie," she answered. "It was a test you needed to take to get into the school."
R.J. Palacio -- Wonder

white lie = an unimportant lie (told to be helpful)

So he'd told a little white lie to the rabbi this morning about how she'd converted and how they were raising their boys in the Jewish faith.
Judy Blume -- In the Unlikely Event
But there are no white lies, there is only the blackness of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.
Ayn Rand -- Atlas Shrugged
She has no history of criminal behavior, no drug or alcohol use, no history of psychological problems"—a white lie—"and she seems very gentle.
Scott Pratt -- An Innocent Client
He comforts her with a little white lie.
Sonia Nazario -- Enrique's Journey
Only a white lie, my dear Count.
Frank Herbert -- Dune
He had not wanted to disturb his nephew—a white lie.
Thomas Mann -- The Magic Mountain
She tilted her head back and forth, as if caught in a white lie.
Patrick Rothfuss -- The Name of the Wind
... So tell him a white lie.
Athol Fugard -- Master Harold...and the Boys
The little white lies I told on a daily basis, the things I kept in, each time I was not totally honest-I was aware of every one now.
Sarah Dessen -- Just Listen
Gospodin Selene is on another call" whereupon you might hear sound of W.C., followed by running water and know that she had told little white lie.
Robert A. Heinlein -- The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
"It's just a white lie," Andrew elaborates.
Meg Cabot -- Queen of Babble
Mrs. Larkin, I may have told little white lies in my life, but never a lie that mattered, that hurt any one.
Zane Grey -- Riders of the Purple Sage
This is called a white lie.
Mark Haddon -- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
'What we call in English a little white lie that doesn't hurt anybody.
Robert Ludlum -- The Bourne Supremacy
The white lie surprised Langdon.
Dan Brown -- Angels & Demons

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