fabulist
noun
fab·u·list ˈfa-byə-list 
1
: a creator or writer of fables
2
: liar
fabulist adjective
or fabulistic
ˌfa-byə-ˈli-stik
Synonyms
- fabricator
- fibber
- liar
- prevaricator
- storyteller
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
a once highly admired journalist whose reputation is now that of a disgraced fabulist
Recent Examples on the Web The legendary fabulist and short-story writer also left readers these meditations on the human and the divine. 
Wsj Books Staff, WSJ, 17 June 2022 So, in the interest of making good on that opportunity, Morosini assembled a cast of comic performers, including Patton Oswalt as Chuck, a semi-fictional version of his father the fabulist, plus Rachel Dratch as dad’s randy girlfriend. Peter Debruge, Variety, 14 Mar. 2022 Other cast members line up unfavorably against the 1978 dream team of Mia Farrow, Jane Birkin, Maggie Smith and Bette freakin’ Davis — though Sophie Okonedo is a highlight as a blues singer, replacing Angela Lansbury’s drunken fabulist. Bonnie Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 11 Feb. 2022 Then there's this: Trump is -- and has always been -- a fabulist. Chris Cillizza, CNN, 8 Feb. 2022 In his scathing response, Dylan and his lawyers blasted the accuser as a lying fabulist. Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 6 Jan. 2022 Famously, Iman’s career got its start in the ’70s with a risible fiction ginned up by the photographer and inveterate fabulist Peter Beard. New York Times, 18 Nov. 2021 This invitation to projection is one that Calle—melodramatic, morbid, a fabulist—willingly accepts. Lili Owen Rowlands, The New Yorker, 17 Nov. 2021 Born in Rochester, N.Y., in 1979, Lawson is a combination of portraitist and fabulist, documentarian and storyteller. New York Times, 29 July 2021 See More
Wsj Books Staff, WSJ, 17 June 2022 So, in the interest of making good on that opportunity, Morosini assembled a cast of comic performers, including Patton Oswalt as Chuck, a semi-fictional version of his father the fabulist, plus Rachel Dratch as dad’s randy girlfriend. Peter Debruge, Variety, 14 Mar. 2022 Other cast members line up unfavorably against the 1978 dream team of Mia Farrow, Jane Birkin, Maggie Smith and Bette freakin’ Davis — though Sophie Okonedo is a highlight as a blues singer, replacing Angela Lansbury’s drunken fabulist. Bonnie Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 11 Feb. 2022 Then there's this: Trump is -- and has always been -- a fabulist. Chris Cillizza, CNN, 8 Feb. 2022 In his scathing response, Dylan and his lawyers blasted the accuser as a lying fabulist. Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 6 Jan. 2022 Famously, Iman’s career got its start in the ’70s with a risible fiction ginned up by the photographer and inveterate fabulist Peter Beard. New York Times, 18 Nov. 2021 This invitation to projection is one that Calle—melodramatic, morbid, a fabulist—willingly accepts. Lili Owen Rowlands, The New Yorker, 17 Nov. 2021 Born in Rochester, N.Y., in 1979, Lawson is a combination of portraitist and fabulist, documentarian and storyteller. New York Times, 29 July 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
probably borrowed from Middle French fabuliste, from Latin fābula "talk, account, fable entry 1" + French -iste -ist entry 1
First Known Use
1593, in the meaning defined at sense 1
fabulists
noun
as in liars
a person who tells lies a once highly admired journalist whose reputation is now that of a disgraced fabulist Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- liars
- storytellers
- prevaricators
- fibbers
- fabricators
- exaggerators
- defamers
- falsifiers
- calumniators
- distorters
- perjurers
- dissemblers
- mountebanks
- deceivers
- charlatans
- libelers
- slanderers
- knaves
- pretenders
- equivocators
- gossipers
- defrauders
- counterfeiters
- mythomaniacs
- libelists
- cheats
- gossips
- cheaters
- frauds
- hustlers
- cozeners
- dissimulators
- palterers
- double-dealers
- talebearers
- operators
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- square shooters