phoney

pho·ney

P p

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [foh-nee]
- /ˈfoʊ ni/
- /ˈfəʊ.ni/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [foh-nee]
- /ˈfoʊ ni/

Definitions of phoney word

adjective phoney not real or genuine; fake; counterfeit: a phony diamond. 1
adjective phoney false or deceiving; not truthful; concocted: a phony explanation. 1
adjective phoney insincere or deceitful; affected or pretentious: a phony sales representative. 1
noun plural phoney something that is phony; a counterfeit or fake. 1
noun plural phoney an insincere, pretentious, or deceitful person: He thought my friends were a bunch of phonies. 1
verb with object phoney to falsify; counterfeit; fabricate (often followed by up): to phony up a document. 1

See all 14 definitions of phoney

Information block about the term

Origin of phoney

First appearance:

before 1895

One of the 18% newest English words

1895-1900; perhaps alteration and respelling of fawney (slang) finger ring (< Irish fsptáinne), if taken to mean “false” in the phrase fawney rig a confidence game in which a brass ring is sold as a gold one

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Phoney

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Phoney

phoney popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 77% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

phoney usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for phoney

adjective phoney

cardboard — Cardboard is thick, stiff paper that is used, for example, to make boxes and models.
hypocritical — of the nature of hypocrisy, or pretense of having virtues, beliefs, principles, etc., that one does not actually possess: The parent who has a “do what I say and not what I do” attitude can appear hypocritical to a child.

verb phoney

copy — If you make a copy of something, you produce something that looks like the original thing.
counterfeit — Counterfeit money, goods, or documents are not genuine, but have been made to look exactly like genuine ones in order to deceive people.
cribbing — the action of one that cribs
dittoed — the aforesaid; the above; the same (used in accounts, lists, etc., to avoid repetition). Symbol: ″. Abbreviation: do. Compare ditto mark.
dualize — to make dual.

adverb phoney

deceptively — apt or tending to deceive: The enemy's peaceful overtures may be deceptive.

noun phoney

hypocrite — a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, especially one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements.

All 20 Synonyms of phoney