A pathological liar lies constantly to get what he wants, caring little for who gets hurt along the way. Considered a coping mechanism, pathological liars often exhibit other personality disorders. Words that describe a pathological liar are deceptive, manipulative and selfish.
A liar lies incessantly to get their way and does so with little awareness. It is viewed as a coping mechanism developed in early childhood and is often associated with some other type of mental health disorder like an antisocial personality disorder.
Pathological liars lie to manipulate others. Pathological lying is often a warning sign of antisocial personality disorder (commonly known as a psychopath). A pathological liar is usually considered manipulative, selfish and cunning.
People who lie pathologically may want others to view them positively, making things up to make them look better. Their desire to create a false sense of self could indicate that they are unhappy with themselves.
Pathological lying or lying compulsively can also be a symptom of antisocial personality disorder or narcissistic personality disorder. People with these personality disorders may lie to gain sympathy or social status, or to preserve a false sense of self.
The narcissistic liar
This type of person never admits to making a mistake, even when the mistake could be a growth opportunity for your PR team. He or she is often a "people person" seeking attention when things go right, bragging or exaggerating accomplishments, while being quick to place blame and criticize others.
Changing narratives, becoming defensive, and adding dramatic details could be signs of a pathological liar. But not always. Pathological lying — also known as pseudologia fantastica, mythomania, and morbid lying — is a compulsive pattern of telling people things you know aren't true.
Pathological lying is a possible symptom of certain personality disorders, including: borderline personality disorder (BPD) narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) antisocial personality disorder (APD)
Lying in gaslighting is intended to make the victim not believe their senses and to doubt themselves. Gaslighters are pathological liars who never back down or change their stories. Even when challenged with proof of their lying, they still plough on and their denials can be very convincing.
This behavior can be part of a personality disorder such as antisocial, narcissistic, and histrionic. Other conditions, such as borderline personality disorder, may also lead to frequent lies, but these aren't considered pathological. Also, some people simply lie pathologically but have no other conditions.
Master manipulators are Machiavellians, or “High Machs,” as I previously explained. Some people are rated as High Machs while others (most of us) are characterized as Low Machs, which means that our Machiavellian tendencies fall within the normal range.
Selective truth-telling doesn't mean lying — or even fibbing. Nor is it purposely twisting the truth. It simply means being circumspect about what you do disclose. There are plenty of good reasons why the acronym TMI exists: Sharing too much information confuses more than it clarifies.
Some common synonyms of dishonest are deceitful, mendacious, and untruthful. While all these words mean "unworthy of trust or belief," dishonest implies a willful perversion of truth in order to deceive, cheat, or defraud. a swindle usually involves two dishonest people.
Do you like to tell lies? Then you're deceitful — someone who's untrustworthy, two-faced, or fraudulent. Being called deceitful is not a compliment: deceitful words are misleading and deceitful people tend to lie or deceive others. You can say a corrupt business is deceitful, and a two-faced politician is deceitful.
Credulous comes from the 16th-century Latin credulus, or "easily believes." A synonym for credulous is gullible, and both terms describe a person who accepts something willingly without a lot of supporting facts.
Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental health condition in which people have an unreasonably high sense of their own importance. They need and seek too much attention and want people to admire them. People with this disorder may lack the ability to understand or care about the feelings of others.
If you point out that someone is lying or cheating and they react by turning the tables and making you feel as though you are in the wrong or mistaken, that could be a sign of narcissistic rage.
If you catch a narcissist in a lie and confront them, you will definitely face at least one of the Four D's. They will either deny, deflect, devalue, and/or dismiss you. Deny. “It wasn't me.”
In the narcissistic realm, lying is a behavior pattern that serves very specific needs of the narcissistic individual in your life. Narcissists lie because of their arrogance, desire to be in power and have control, their belief that they're entitled to whatever they want, and because of their self centered tendencies.