red herring Synonyms

smoked herring waste of time snipe hunt smoke screen pork pie wild-goose chase little white lie false scent barefaced lie alternative fact fairy tale misleading clue preliminary prospectus departure from the truth wasted labor wasted effort merry chase bootless errand piece of fiction made-up story false trail false clue diversionary tactic fairy story half-truth disinformation falsity falsification falsehood fabrication fable exaggeration diversion distraction disguise deviation feint fiction bullshit whapper sham ruse pretext pretence ploy myth maneuver invention deception