white lie; harmless lie; fib
A lie told to avoid hurting someone's feelings or to smooth a social situation, without malicious intent.
She told a white lie so as not to hurt her friend's feelings.
It's just a harmless lie, so don't worry about it.
Standard kanji spelling for this phrase.
Kana spelling of 嘘; common in casual writing or when avoiding the kanji.
Phrase composed of 罪 (tsumi, 'sin/crime'), の (possessive particle), ない (negative), and 嘘 (uso, 'lie'), literally 'a lie without sin'.