phony

See also: -phony

English

Alternative forms

• phoney (British)

Etymology

Perhaps an alteration of fawney (“gilt brass ring used by swindlers”) (1781), from Irish fáinne (“ring”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfoʊni/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊni

Adjective

phony (comparative phonier, superlative phoniest)

1. (informal) Fraudulent; fake; having a misleading appearance.

   A good jeweler should be able to tell a real stone from a phony one.

Synonyms

• (fraudulent): bogus, counterfeit, fake
• See also Thesaurus:fake

Antonyms

• authentic
• genuine

Derived terms

• phoniness
• phoneyness
• phony as a three-dollar bill

Translations

fraudulent; fake

• Arabic: بَهْرَج‎ m (bahraj), خَرَّاص‎ m (ḵarrāṣ)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 假 (zh) (jiǎ)

• Czech: falešný (cs) m
• Dutch: onecht (nl), nagemaakt (nl)
• Esperanto: falsa
• Finnish: väärä (fi), väärennetty (fi)
• French: frauduleux (fr) m, contrefait (fr) m, falsifié (fr) m, faux (fr) m, à la noix (fr), à la gomme (fr)
• Georgian: ცრუ (cru), ყალბი (q̇albi)

• German: gefälscht (de), , verlogen (de)
• Hebrew: מזויף‎
• Hungarian: hamis (hu)
• Italian: falso (it), fasullo (it)
• Japanese: 偽 (ja) (にせ, nise), 贋 (ja) (にせ, nise), 偽物の (ja) (にせものの, nisemono no)
• Portuguese: falso (pt), de araque
• Russian: фальши́вый (ru) m (falʹšívyj), подде́льный (ru) m (poddélʹnyj), ненастоя́щий (ru) m (nenastojáščij)
• Spanish: falso (es)
• Swedish: falsk (sv), oäkta (sv)

Noun

phony (plural phonies)

1. (informal) A person who assumes an identity or quality other than their own.

   He claims to be a doctor, but he's nothing but a fast-talking phony.

2. (informal) A person who professes beliefs or opinions that they do not hold.

   He's such a phony, he doesn't believe half of what he says.

3. (informal) Anything fraudulent or fake.
   • 2013, John E. Douglas, ‎Ann W. Burgess, ‎Allen G. Burgess, Crime Classification Manual (page 131)

     One name was a phony, but the other was the true name. The clerk remembered the man who had filed the tags since he acquired two sets of plates with different names.

Synonyms

• (faker): dissembler, pretender, fake, faker

Derived terms

• phony up, phoney up
• Phony War, Phoney War

Translations

a person who assumes an identity or quality other than their own

• Finnish: huijari (fi)
• French: usurpateur (fr) m, usurpatrice (fr) f, faux-nez (fr) m or f, faussaire (fr) m or f
• German: Hochstapler (de) m
• Italian: impostore (it) m

• Japanese: 詐欺師 (ja) (さぎし, sagishi)
• Latin: simulātor m
• Russian: прики́дчик m (prikídčik), прики́дчица f (prikídčica)
• Spanish: fingidor (es) m
• Swedish: bluff (sv) c, bedragare (sv) c

a person who professes beliefs or opinions that they do not hold

• Czech: pokrytec (cs) m

• French: mystificateur (fr) m, guignol (fr) m, faux (fr) prophète (fr) m
• Spanish: falso (es) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked‌: "faker (to be sorted)"

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 騙子, ^{(please verify)} 骗子 (zh) (piànzi)

• German: ^{(please verify)} Quacksalber (de) m, ^{(please verify)} Schwindler (de) m, ^{(please verify)} Schwindlerin (de) f
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} ciarlatano (it)

• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} farsante

Anagrams

• hypno-