pseudologia fantastica
a clinical syndrome characterized by elaborate fabrications, which are usually concocted to impress others, to get out of an awkward situation, or to give the individual an ego boost. Unlike the fictions of confabulation, these fantasies are believed only momentarily and are dropped as soon as they are contradicted by evidence. Typical examples are the tall tales told by people with antisocial personality disorder, although the syndrome is also found among malingerers and individuals with factitious disorders, neuroses, and psychoses. See also pathological lying.