phony
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See also: -phony
English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
- phoney (British)
Etymology[edit]
Of unknown origin. Perhaps an alteration of fawny (“gilt brass ring used by swindlers”) (1781), from Irish fáinne (“ring”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
phony (comparative phonier, superlative phoniest)
- (informal) Fraudulent; fake; having a misleading appearance.
- A good jeweler should be able to tell a real stone from a phony one.
Synonyms[edit]
- (fraudulent): bogus, counterfeit, fake
- See also Thesaurus:fake
Antonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
fraudulent; fake
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Noun[edit]
phony (plural phonies)
- (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.
- (informal) A person who professes beliefs or opinions that they do not hold.
- Synonyms: faker, dissembler, pretender, fake; see also Thesaurus:deceiver
- He's such a phony, he doesn't believe half of what he says.
- (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.
- 2013, John E. Douglas, Ann W. Burgess, Allen G. Burgess, Crime Classification Manual (page 131)
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
a person who assumes an identity or quality other than their own
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a person who professes beliefs or opinions that they do not hold
- 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)"
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Verb[edit]
phony (third-person singular simple present phonies, present participle phonying, simple past and past participle phonied)
- To fake.
Anagrams[edit]
Categories:
- English terms with unknown etymologies
- English terms derived from Irish
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/əʊni
- Rhymes:English/əʊni/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English informal terms
- English terms with usage examples
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English verbs
- en:People