झूठ बोलना
jhūṭh bolnā/d͡ʒʱuːʈʰ boːl.nɑː/
To lie in Hindi is झूठ बोलना (jhūṭh bolnā).
This phrase is used to describe the act of telling an intentional untruth. You can use it to describe the action of lying in various contexts, such as commanding someone to stop by saying झूठ बोलना बंद करो.
Meaning: tell an intentional untruth (verb)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of the noun झूठ (jhūṭh – lie) and the verb बोलना (bolnā – to speak/say).
Which one should you use?
While झूठ is the noun for a lie, you must use the verb बोलना (to speak) alongside it to express the actual action of lying.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
To form the past tense 'lied', you change the infinitive बोलना to the past stem बोला, resulting in झूठ बोला.
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is jhūṭh bolnā. The IPA is /dʒʱuːʈʰ boːl.nɑː/. It has 2 syllables.
Did you know?
- In Hindi, a person who lies is called a झूठा, but this same word is also used to describe food that has been tasted or touched by someone else, making it 'impure'.
- The word झूठ is a back-formation from the adjective झूठा, meaning 'false'. This is unusual because the noun was derived from the adjective rather than the other way around.
- In common Hindi parlance, adding the word सफ़ेद (white) to a lie creates सफ़ेद झूठ, which mirrors the English 'white lie' for a harmless untruth.
Examples in context
- कृपया मुझसे झूठ मत बोलें।Please don't lie to me.
- नहीं, वह सिर्फ़ झूठ बोल रहा था।No, he was just telling a lie.
- वह झूठ बोलना जानता है।vaha jhooth bolna jaanata hai.He knows how to lie.
- हमें झूठ बोलना नहीं चाहिए।hamein jhooth bolna nahin chaahiye.We should not lie.
- झूठ बोलना एक बुरी आदत है।jhooth bolna ek buri aadat hai.Lying is a bad habit.
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about a mistake.
- प्रिया Priyaविकास, क्या तुमने यह गिलास तोड़ा?Vikas, kya tumne yeh gilaas toda?Vikas, did you break this glass?
- विकास Vikasनहीं, मैंने नहीं तोड़ा।Nahi, maine nahi toda.No, I didn't break it.
- प्रिया Priyaमुझसे झूठ बोलना बेकार है, मैं जानती हूँ।Mujhse jhooth bolna bekar hai, main jaanti hoon.It's useless to lie to me, I know.
- विकास Vikasठीक है, मुझसे गलती हो गई।Theek hai, mujhse galti ho gayi.Okay, I made a mistake.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “lie” translations and entries झूठ बोलना, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries झूठ, बोलना, CC BY-SA 4.0.
