belies

Belies is the third-person singular present tense of the verb belie, which means to give a false impression or to contradict something. Used transitively, it takes a direct object: for example, "The data belies the claim" or "The cheerful exterior belies the anxiety within." The sense is that appearance, statement, or evidence does not align with reality.

Forms and usage notes

Belie is primarily a formal or literary verb. Its common sense is to reveal a discrepancy between what is asserted and what is true. It often describes how outward appearances, statements, or measures mask a different underlying truth. Examples: "Her calm demeanor belies the stress she feels," "The film’s upbeat scenes belied the grim themes." The word is typically used with nouns such as appearance, data, statement, evidence, or claim.

Etymology

Belie derives from the prefix be- attached to lie, in the sense of failing to correspond or to misrepresent. The form belies developed in English after the be- prefix combined with the verb lie, with earliest usage recorded in Middle English.

Relation to related terms

Belie is close to synonyms such as contradict, misrepresent, or undermine. It is distinct from believe, which means to accept something as true, and from believable, which describes something capable of being believed.

Grammatical notes

Past tense and past participle: belied. The word remains primarily a formal, written term and is less common in everyday casual speech, though it appears in journalism and literary prose when signaling a mismatch between appearance and reality.