“I cannot tell a lie.”
If you always tell the truth, you’re veracious.
If you’re forever hungry, you’re voracious. You might also be a voracious reader, in the figurative sense of devouring books.
The words are sometimes confused. Voracious is related to omnivore, carnivore and herbivore – to do with eating. Veracious is related to veritable and verifying – to do with truth.
Ironically, the story of George Washington and the cherry tree is itself a fib. The story was invented by Mason Locke Weems, one of Washington’s first biographers.
You can read about the difference between veracious and voracious and a whole lot more, in the English Digital Content style guide.
