Quranic root
كذب
k · dh · b
A root denoting departure from truth: speech or representation does not correspond to reality.
The semantic field extends from lying and declaring something false to failed expectations, deceptive appearances, faltering action, and several idiomatic uses of urging or obligation.
- Maqāyīs · row 3957
- 9
- Quran-attested forms
- 12
- Quran senses
- 282
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
كَذَبَ
kadhaba
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form I
- Form
- I
- Quran occurrences
- 11 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
To lie or state what is untrue.
Used of a speaker or claimant; the Quran also attests passive usage in the sense of being told a lie or being pronounced false.
- Lane · entry 28020
- Mufradāt · row 1240
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:10word 12
“[they] lie”
To prove false, fail to bear out, or belie an expectation or perception.
In Quranic constructions this includes hopes proving vain, a perceived reality not being denied, and the various interpretations of the expression in 12:110.
- Lane · entry 28020
- Mufradāt · row 1240
Selected Quran examples
Quran 6:24word 3
“they lied”
Quran 53:11word 2
“lied”
كَذَّبَ
kadhdhaba
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form II
- Form
- II
- Quran occurrences
- 176 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
To call someone a liar, accuse someone of lying, or give someone the lie.
The direct object may be a person, including a messenger or truthful speaker; the Quran applies this denial to persons who are thereby accused of falsehood.
- Lane · entry 28021
- Mufradāt · row 1240
Selected Quran examples
Quran 3:184word 2
“they reject you”
To reject, deny, discredit, or disbelieve a thing, claim, sign, or message.
Frequently constructed with بِـ for the rejected matter; active and passive Quranic forms express denying or being denied.
- Lane · entry 28021
- Mufradāt · row 1240
Selected Quran examples
Quran 10:39word 11
“denied”
Quran 55:13word 4
“will you both deny”
كَذِبٌ
kadhibun
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 33 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
A lie, falsehood, or fabricated representation.
The Quran uses the noun for falsehood in speech and for a falsely represented matter or act, including a fabricated attribution.
- Lane · entry 28027
- Mufradāt · row 1240
Selected Quran examples
Quran 10:17word 7
“a lie”
Quran 12:18word 5
“with false blood”
كَذَّابٌ
kadhdhābun
- Part of speech
- Adjective / Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 5 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
A habitual, persistent, or great liar; intensely mendacious.
An intensive personal epithet, used adjectivally or substantivally.
- Lane · entry 28035
- Mufradāt · row 1240
Selected Quran examples
Quran 38:4word 10
“a liar”
Quran 54:26word 4
“(is) the liar”
كَاذِبٌ
kādhibun
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- Quran occurrences
- 32 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Lying; a person who tells falsehood.
The active participle may function adjectivally or substantivally and may describe the person responsible for a false statement.
- Lane · entry 28035
- Mufradāt · row 1240
Selected Quran examples
Quran 12:26word 19
“the liars”
Quran 96:16word 2
“lying”
A false or denied occurrence; something whose happening is rejected.
In the Quranic expression كَاذِبَةٌ, the active-participle form is substantivized in the sense of there being no denial or rejection of the event's occurrence.
- Lane · entry 28027
- Mufradāt · row 1240
Selected Quran examples
Quran 56:2word 3
“a denial”
كِذَّابٌ
kidhdhābun
- Part of speech
- Verbal noun
- Quran occurrences
- 2 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Denial or rejection.
A verbal noun of intensive denial, used in the Quranic expression for rejecting signs or revealed truth.
- Lane · entry 28021
- Mufradāt · row 1240
Selected Quran examples
Quran 78:28word 3
“(with) denial”
Quran 78:35word 6
“any falsehood”
مَكْذُوبٌ
makdhūbun
- Part of speech
- Passive participle
- Quran occurrences
- 1 occurrence
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Belied or treated as false.
A passive participle describing a statement or promise whose truth is denied or whose fulfillment is not to be belied.
- Lane · entry 28041
Selected Quran examples
Quran 11:65word 11
“(to) be belied”
مُكَذِّبٌ
mukadhdhibun
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- Quran occurrences
- 21 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
One who denies, rejects, or calls others or their message false.
An active participle of Form II, used substantivally in the Quran for deniers of messengers, revelation, or truth.
- Lane · entry 28021
- Mufradāt · row 1240
Selected Quran examples
Quran 16:36word 28
“(of) the deniers”
Quran 52:11word 3
“to the deniers”
تَكْذِيبٌ
takdhībun
- Part of speech
- Verbal noun
- Quran occurrences
- 1 occurrence
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
Denial, rejection, or declaring something false.
The Form II verbal noun, denoting the act of rejecting or discrediting a claim or truth.
- Lane · entry 28021
- Mufradāt · row 1240
Selected Quran examples
Quran 85:19word 5
“denial”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:10يَكْذِبُونَ[they] lie
- 2:39وَكَذَّبُوا۟and deny
- 2:87كَذَّبْتُمْyou denied
- 3:11كَذَّبُوا۟They denied
- 3:61ٱلْكَـٰذِبِينَthe liars
Broader Classical Arabic meanings
Recorded for this root in the Classical lexicons beyond its Quran usage. These are secondary to the Quran senses above.
Show 30 Classical meanings
كَذَبَ
To utter a statement resembling a lie while intending the truth.
A reported conventional use illustrated by statements that appear false although their speaker remains truthful.
- Lane · entry 28020
كَذَبَ
To state something untrue unintentionally; to make a mistake or err.
A Classical use explicitly distinguished from deliberate lying.
- Lane · entry 28020
كَذَبَ
Of an expectation, dream, opinion, desire, promise, or similar thing: to prove false or fail to materialize.
A broader Classical use of the verb for non-human subjects, including a dream or a promise of rain.
- Lane · entry 28020
كَذَبَ
Of sight or judgment: to deceive or misrepresent reality.
Used in expressions where the eye or judgment presents something contrary to its real state.
- Lane · entry 28020
كَذَبَ
To fail, slacken, or abate after giving an indication of continuation.
Applied in Classical expressions to camel's milk, a camel's pace, or heat.
- Lane · entry 28020
كَذَبَتْ
Of a she-camel covered by a stallion: to raise her tail and return without conceiving.
A specialized animal-related use.
- Lane · entry 28020
- Lane · entry 28035
كَذَبَ عَلَيْكَ
To urge someone to adhere to, undertake, or take up something; hence, in some idioms, that the matter is incumbent or practicable.
An idiomatic exhortatory construction, especially كَذَبَ عَلَيْكَ or كَذَبَ عَلَيْكُمْ; it can be interpreted as “keep to,” “undertake,” “it is incumbent,” or “it is possible.”
- Lane · entry 28020
كَذَبَ
In a reported contrary usage, to speak truth.
A lexically reported contronymic use, particularly in the expression كَذَبَ النَّسَّابُونَ.
- Lane · entry 28020
كَذَبَتْ عَفَّاقَتُكَ
To break wind.
A rare idiomatic expression.
- Lane · entry 28020
كَذَّبَ عَنْهُ
To repel or defend someone.
A specialized transitive construction with عَنْ.
- Lane · entry 28021
كَذَّبَ
In fighting, to fail to follow through on a charge, retreat, or act cowardly after charging.
The expression can also describe a charge that falsifies the expectation formed by it or a false charge.
- Lane · entry 28021
كَذَّبَ السَّيْرَ
To slacken one's pace or cease proceeding with energy.
A specialized construction concerning travel or movement.
- Lane · entry 28021
مَا كَذَّبَ أَنْ فَعَلَ
Not to delay or hesitate to do something.
A construction describing prompt action and absence of cowardly hesitation.
- Lane · entry 28021
كَذَّبَ عَنْ أَمْرٍ
To abstain, desist, or draw back through fear from something one intended to do.
A specialized intransitive construction.
- Lane · entry 28021
كَذَّبَ
Of a wild beast: to run and then stop to see what is behind it.
A specialized animal-behavior use.
- Lane · entry 28021
كَاذَبَ
To lie to one another.
A reciprocal Form III construction.
- Lane · entry 28022
أَكْذَبَ
To find, show, or prove someone to be a liar.
Reported alongside the related sense of announcing or making manifest another person's lying.
- Lane · entry 28023
أَكْذَبَ
To incite, urge, or induce someone to lie.
A further reported Form IV use.
- Lane · entry 28023
أَكْذَبَ
When called or shouted to, to remain silent while pretending to be asleep.
A specialized idiomatic use.
- Lane · entry 28023
تَكذَّبَ
To affect lying or deliberately tell a lie.
A Form V reflexive or middle construction expressing purposeful or affected lying.
- Lane · entry 28024
تَكذَّبَ عَلَيْهِ
To assert that someone is a liar or bring a charge of lying against him.
A transitive or prepositional Form V construction.
- Lane · entry 28024
تَكَاذَبَ
To lie mutually or tell lies to one another.
A reciprocal Form VI construction.
- Lane · entry 28025
كَذِبٌ
An accusation of lying or an act of making someone a liar.
A nominal use preserved in expressions that negate accusing the addressee of lying.
- Lane · entry 28027
الكَذُوبُ
The soul as a deceiver that raises vain hopes or makes a person imagine that he cannot carry out an undertaking.
A figurative name for the soul in Classical usage.
- Lane · entry 28031
كَذَّابَةٌ
A figured or multicolored cloth whose design appears to be on the ceiling although it is on cloth below it.
A specialized figurative noun based on deceptive appearance.
- Lane · entry 28034
كَاذِبٌ
False or vain, as of a dream whose promise or appearance proves unreal.
An adjectival use applied to a dream or similar expectation.
- Lane · entry 28035
كَاذِبٌ
Of a charge: abortive or followed by cowardly retreat.
A specialized adjectival use for an action that fails to fulfill the promise of its beginning.
- Lane · entry 28035
مَكْذُوبٌ
One to whom a lie is told; also, a saying in which falsehood is told.
The passive participle may describe either the recipient of a lie or a false statement itself.
- Lane · entry 28041
مَكْذُوبَةٌ
A weak woman; in another reported usage, a virtuous woman.
A rare specialized feminine noun with differing reported lexical applications.
- Lane · entry 28042
مَكَاذِبُ
Lies, falsehoods, or untruths.
A plural form reported as possibly lacking a regular singular, or as a plural of كَذِبٌ.
- Lane · entry 28043
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The interpretation of the Form I expression in 12:110 is reading-sensitive: the evidence reports readings involving disappointment of a promised fulfillment, being pronounced liars, or the addressees' belief that the messengers broke their promise.
The Quranic form كَاذِبَةٌ in 56:2 is substantivized and does not simply mean an ordinary personal liar; it denotes rejection or denial of the event's occurrence in that construction.
The Form II verb in 6:33 is reported with variant readings, so translations may differ between denying the messenger and finding him false.