Arabic word sheet
اِفْتَرَى
To invent a lie, to fabricate
- Type
- verb
- Root
- ف ر ي
Meaning and usage
To invent a lie, to fabricate
To make up something false and present it as true. Said of someone who invents a story, a piece of news, an accusation.
اِفْتَرَى الصَّحَفِيُّ خَبَرًا عَنِ الْوَزِيرِ.
The journalist fabricated a piece of news about the minister.
To slander someone
With “against”: to attribute falsely a word or a deed to someone.
اِفْتَرَى رَامِي عَلَى زَمِيلِهِ أَمَامَ الْمُدِيرِ.
Rami told a lie about his colleague in front of the manager.
Word family
What the root means ف ر ي
The root carries the idea of cutting and slitting, at first the leather that is cut to be shaped. From “to cut out” one moves to “to fashion”, then to fashioning a lie; from it also come “slander”, “to split open” and “a monstrous thing”.
to cut, to slit; to fabricate
فَرَى
lie, slander
فِرْيَةٌ
to rip, to slit
أَفْرَى
to split open
تَفَرَّى
to be slit open
اِنْفَرَى
a monstrous, unheard-of thing
فَرِيٌّ
Synonyms
to make up
اِخْتَلَقَ
It simply says that a story or an excuse is drawn from nothing, without the idea that it is aimed at someone; the headword is graver.
to lie
كَذَبَ
It is broader: it covers any untrue word, even a small one, whereas the headword implies a lie built from scratch.
Opposites
to tell the truth
صَدَقَ