phony

¹ American  

[foh-nee] / ˈfoʊ ni /

Or phoney

adjective

phonier, phoniest

1. not real or genuine; fake; counterfeit.

   a phony diamond.

2. false or deceiving; not truthful; concocted.

   a phony explanation.

3. insincere or deceitful; affected or pretentious.

   a phony sales representative.

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noun

plural

phonies

1. something that is phony; a counterfeit or fake.

   Synonyms:

   hoax, imitation, fraud

2. an insincere, pretentious, or deceitful person.

   He thought my friends were a bunch of phonies.

verb (used with object)

phonied, phonying

1. to falsify; counterfeit; fabricate (often followed byup ).

   to phony up a document.

-phony ² American  

1. a combining form used in the formation of abstract nouns corresponding to nouns ending in -phone:

   telephony.

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-phony ¹ British  

combining form

1. indicating a specified type of sound

   cacophony

   euphony

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phony ² British  

/ ˈfəʊnɪ /

adjective

1. a variant spelling (esp US) of phoney

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Usage

Where does phony come from? Phony is a word that means "fake" or "made up." But there is nothing fake about this unusual origin story for the word. While the exact origins of phony are unknown, the word likely comes from an old con known as the fawney rig. Fawney is from an Irish word for "finger ring," and rig is an old term for a "trick" or "swindle."As for how the trick worked, the swindler would "accidentally" drop a piece of cheap jewelry in front of their target. Then, they would pick it up while acting relieved that they hadn't lost such a supposedly valuable ring. If the scheme was a success, they'd sell it to the target for much more than it was actually worth.By the 20th century, the spelling of the word was eventually changed from fawney to phony and came to refer to anything fake or counterfeit.The roots of these other words may get a rise—of laughter or surprise—out of you. Run on over to our roundup of them at "Weird Word Origins That Will Make Your Family Laugh."

Other Word Forms

• -phonic combining form
• phonily adverb
• phoniness noun

Etymology

Origin of phony¹

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

Origin of -phony²

< Greek -phōnia; -phone, -y ³

Example Sentences

“He got criticized for a long while for being over paid but a lot of that was phony,” because the compensation was tied to stock performance that never materialized, Malone said.

From The Wall Street Journal

Putty noses, horsehair wigs, and phony accents were his bread and butter, so to speak.

From Literature

Even Lady Constance, who seemed to naturally prefer phony, ill-mannered people over gentle, true-hearted ones, found the baroness to be unpleasant company.

From Literature

Yet, the phony look suits her — Glinda is burdened by being the happy face of the Wizard’s regime.

From Los Angeles Times

The morning after his dinner with Wing Chau, Eisman woke up to his first glimpse of the bond market in the flesh, and a lot of sensationally phony baroque ceiling frescoes.

From Literature

Related Words

• bogus
• counterfeit
• forged
• sham
• spurious