liar
li·ar/ˈlaɪ.ɚ/noun
liar is spelled L-I-A-R: 4 letters and 2 syllables (li·ar). It appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 6,884th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “liar vs lier” about 20 times a month (Bing, United States). As a noun, liar means “Someone who tells a lie; especially, a person who frequently lies” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of liar is liars.
How many letters and syllables are in liar?
| Letters | 4: L-I-A-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: li·ar |
| In writing | 10 times per million words; the 6,884th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is liar?
Liar appears 10 times per million words in written English, the 6,884th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce liar?
- UK /ˈlaɪ.ə/
- US /ˈlaɪ.ɚ/
Liar has 2 syllables, split li·ar in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-liar.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-liar.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with liar
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: lier, lyre (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Also written: lier.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with liar?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as liar from its last stressed vowel (/aɪəɹ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: rail, lair, lira, rial, lari, aril.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of liar
- liars plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does liar mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Someone who tells a lie; especially, a person who frequently lies.
- 2
obsoleteA swabber responsible for cleaning the outside parts of the ship rather than the cabins, a role traditionally assigned to a person caught telling a lie the previous week.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Liar in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense one who tells lies:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | menteur, menteuse |
| German | Lügner, Lügnerin |
| Portuguese | mentiroso, mentirosa |
| Spanish | mentiroso, mentirosa, embustero, embustera |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does liar come from?
Inherited from Middle English lier, liere, lyere, liȝer, lieȝer, legher, from Old English lēgere, lēogere (“liar, false witness, hypocrite”), from Proto-West Germanic *leugārī, from Proto-Germanic *leugārijaz (“liar”), from *leuganą (“to lie”) + *-ārijaz, equivalent to lie + -ar. More at lie.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).