A small, harmless lie or untruth, usually told to avoid trouble or to be polite.
Origin uncertain; possibly from 'fable' or related to fibbing as a 'small' untruth. Used in English since the 1600s. Sometimes folk etymology connects it to 'Fibbler' but this is unproven.
A fib is basically our culture's acceptable lie—we tell fibs so often we don't even call them lies, like saying you 'didn't see' a text message when you're just avoiding someone!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.