Belie

[Bassim]

Please would you correct the mistakes in my sentences. I wanted to know if I have used the word "belie" correctly.

1. The old, beautiful house's facade belied the poverty and hardship of its occupants.
2. The expensive, elegant clothes belied his character of a conman.
3. Her well-toned body and her voice belied her true age. She was almost fifty, but people believed she was still in her thirties.

 

[emsr2d2]

1 and 3 are fine. The use of "belie" is OK in #2 but I don't like the use of "his character of a conman". Why don't you try to reword it?

 

[Bassim]

Thank you for helping me. I do not like the use of "his character of a conmen either, but I could not think of something better. Could i write instead "his conman's character"?

 

[emsr2d2]

Is he actually a conman?

 

[Bassim]

Yes.

 

[emsr2d2]

His elegant, expensive clothes belied the fact that he was a conman.

 

[Bassim]

emsr2d2
I do not like "belied the fact". Please could you tell me if there is any other phrase I could use without the word "fact".

 

[emsr2d2]

Why don't you like it?

You could say "... belied the reality that he was a conman".

 

[Bassim]

Thank you.
I cannot say exactly why I do not like the word "fact". I just hear it so often like for example "the fact is that he is..." or "the fact is that the country is in an economical crisis." I think the word fact is often redundant, but maybe I am wrong.

 

[bhaisahab]

It's no more redundant than "belie" is.

 

[emsr2d2]

Surely for a word to be redundant, the sentence would make sense without it.

How does "His expensive and elegant clothes the fact that he is a conman" make sense?

 

[Bassim]

Indeed, it does not make sense. I think that Bhai had something different on his mind.