Belie
/bɪˈlaɪ/noun
To give a false impression of; to contradict or fail to match.
Did you know?Despite sounding like “believe,” *belie* is historically tied to Old English *belēogan*, meaning “to deceive by lying,” so its whole history is about false appearances and verbal trickery.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
belēogan
“to deceive, lie to, defraud”
Middle English
ME
beli(en)
“to deceive, misrepresent”
14th-15th Century
English
belien
“to give a false impression of; to contradict”
Modern English
English
belie
“to fail to give a true impression of; to contradict or mask”