Meaning & use
baldfaced
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Meaning
adjectivebefore a noundisapproving
Done openly and shamelessly, without even trying to hide or soften the bad nature of something, especially a lie.
Grammar: Comes before a noun such as lie or liar: a baldfaced lie.
Patterns
- a baldfaced lie
- a baldfaced liar
He told a baldfaced lie about where he had been all night.
The company's claim was a baldfaced attempt to mislead customers.
She gave a baldfaced denial even though everyone had seen the video.
Common combinations
- baldfaced lie
- It was a baldfaced lie, and everyone knew it.
- baldfaced liar
- The witness turned out to be a baldfaced liar.
- baldfaced cheating
- The scheme was baldfaced cheating from start to finish.
- baldfaced attempt
- The email was a baldfaced attempt to get my password.
- baldfaced denial
- The minister's baldfaced denial convinced no one.
Synonyms and how they differ
- barefaced
- Barefaced means the same and is the more common spelling in British English.
- brazen
- Brazen stresses boldness and lack of shame, and it can describe actions as well as lies.
- blatant
- Blatant stresses that something is obvious and unhidden, not necessarily that the person feels no shame.
- shameless
- Shameless focuses on the person's lack of embarrassment rather than on the obviousness of the act.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: baldfaced or bald-headed?
baldfaced vs bald-headed
Bald-headed describes someone with no hair on the head and has nothing to do with shameless dishonesty.
Practice
Which noun is most naturally described as baldfaced?
Choose one answer.
Baldfaced describes an openly shameless act, and a lie is the classic example. The other nouns do not carry that idea.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “baldfaced”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.