Phrase guide

economical with the truth

adj · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

adj

Meaning 1

Not telling the whole truth, especially in order to present a false image of a situation; untruthful; lying. Often used with sarcasm or satire.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: euphemistic, idiomatic

Examples

  • I would be acting economical with the truth if I were to tell you that I was enjoying myself.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Believed to be from a quotation by the British-Irish statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke (1729–1797): “Falsehood and delusion are allowed in no case whatever: But, as in the exercise of all the virtues, there is an œconomy of truth. It is a sort of temperance, by which a man speaks truth with measure that he may speak it the longer.”