Main Difference
There are words that originate from the same parent word but have different meanings and the way their employment should be. Two such words are usually considered the same but have opposite meanings are Liar and Lier. The main difference between the two is that Liar is the word used for a person who does not tell the truth most of the times. An individual who performs this act is known as a liar whereas the action itself is known a lie. Lier is a word which has also originated from the central word lie but is used to describe a person or a thing that has been put or is in a position that can be termed horizontal.
Comparison Chart
| Basis of Distinction | Liar | Lier |
| Definition | Liar is the word used for a person who does not tell the truth most of the times. | Lier is the word used for a person or object that lays horizontally on the ground. |
| Derivation | Lie | Lie |
| Example | A person who says they have made a great joke but in real it is not theirs. | An individual who wants to sleep and is in their bed, so they will tell the other person that they are lying. |
| Usage | Frequently used. | Considered misspelling of Liar. |
| Sentence | New research, however, suggests a better strategy may be to call a house meeting as it is easier to spot a liar when questioning a group of people collectively. | Lying in bed being a half-way house between sleeping and waking, and the mind then equally indifferent to logic and exact realism, the lier in bed can and does create his dreams: it is an inexpensive and gentlemanly pleasure. |
Lier
Lier is a word that has also originated from the central word lie but has slightly different meanings from the other word. It is used to describe a person or a thing that has been put or is in a position which can be termed horizontal. The term can be further elaborated in the way that an individual who is standing will have his head above and feet below, this means they are in a vertical position, while in the case of horizontal, they will be on the y-axis and hence we can say such a person is a lier. This word mostly used for someone who is in bed, we usually say that we are lying in bed, this is another variation of the word and can be employed depending on the situation. The best way of elaborating it will also be with the help of a sentence of two. Since lying is the present participle of this word so that we will use it as an example. “They thought her too young to understand words like coma and deteriorating, and they accused her of lying when she said she could help him.” Another sentence will be, “When Anna Mikhaylovna returned from Count Bezukhov’s the money, all in clean notes, was lying ready under a handkerchief on the countess’ little table, and Anna Mikhaylovna noticed that something was agitating her.” They make it clear that the word in the context of someone or something that is lying under the surface, that particular thing itself will become a lier while its action will become lying.
Liar
Liar is the word used for a person who does not tell the truth most of the times. A person who performs this act is known as a liar whereas the action itself is known a lie. Therefore, from the definition, we say that a person that lies is the one who is a liar. In this case, if the statement is something else and the person speaking it, will change the events and some facts to mold it into their words. This action will result in misleading the other person and hence the word gets its meaning. This name has been originated from the old English language word leogere and then was modified later on into the modern English as Lie-ar, and that is a person who tells lies. A good thing, in this case, will be to see the sentences in which the word can be used and then a proper understanding develops between them. “He dropped his hand from her body before he turned into a liar and started telling her the wrong facts about his personal life.” In this sentence, it is evident that a person who does not have the ability to state the facts as they are, or changes them to gains some benefit will be the one who is not a truthful person. This fact is the reason; we can term the antonym of a liar as truthful. It mostly gets used in different statements, but some cases such as judicial proceedings cannot be said until someone has been proven guilty of performing the act that originally associated with them. It should be noted that, this term has nothing to with the fact that differences between American and British English have increased the confusion.
Key Differences
- The words liar and lier originally derived from the same word which is a lie and means to deceive someone with their words.
- The word liar means a person who tells lies at most times than the truth whereas the word lier says an individual or a thing that lies on the surface or bed.
- The best example of a liar will be an individual who says they have made a great joke, but in real it is not theirs. The best example of lier will be an individual who wants to sleep and is in their bed, so they will tell the other person that they are lying.
- The use of word lier in a sentence will be; “Lying in bed being a half-way house between sleeping and waking, and the mind then equally indifferent to logic and exact realism, the lier in bed can and does create his dreams: it is an inexpensive and gentlemanly pleasure.”
- The use of word liar in a sentence will be; “New research, however, suggests a better strategy may be to call a house meeting as it is easier to spot a liar when questioning a group of people collectively.”
- Liar is an actual word and is spoken regularly whereas Lier is not always considered a word and is taken as a misspelling of the word liar.