Noble lie

Etymology

From Plato’s “Republic,” where the guardians propagate a “gennaion pseudos” — a “noble” or “well-bred” lie — a founding myth to justify the city’s social order. The English phrase “noble lie” became the standard rendering and a byword for justified political deception.

noun phrase · /NOH-bul lye/
A falsehood knowingly told by rulers or elites to preserve social harmony or serve what they judge the greater good.
What it names
The paternalistic myth — that useful fictions may be worth more to a society than uncomfortable truths.
Example
Telling the public a struggling bank is “perfectly sound” to prevent a panic is a modern noble lie.
Related idea
A noble lie is deception justified as being for the public’s own good; manufactured consent shapes opinion through selective information rather than outright falsehood, and propaganda aims to persuade whether or not it lies.