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Synonyms

bogus

American  
[boh-guhs] / ˈboʊ gəs /

adjective

  1. not genuine; counterfeit; spurious; sham.

    Synonyms:
    phony, fake, pseudo, fraudulent

noun

  1. Printing, Journalism. matter set, by union requirement, by a compositor and later discarded, duplicating the text of an advertisement for which a plate has been supplied or type set by another publisher.

bogus British  
/ ˈbəʊɡəs /

adjective

  1. spurious or counterfeit; not genuine

    a bogus note
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • bogusly adverb
  • bogusness noun

Etymology

Origin of bogus

1825–30, originally an apparatus for coining false money; perhaps akin to bogy 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The officials accused “foreign actors” of draining billions from public healthcare programs in California, referencing bogus hospice providers first exposed by The Times in 2020 and later investigated by California Atty.

From Los Angeles Times

An ex-politician accused of running a bogus coronavirus testing firm has told a court he "never said we were absolutely bob-on" in its operation.

From BBC

The couple then took things a step further, joining with other defendants in Southern California and Michigan to manufacture a bogus concoction bottled and labeled to mimic the authentic product, according to court records.

From Los Angeles Times

Some had bogus flags from countries such as East Timor and Malawi.

From The Wall Street Journal

The crackdown appeared to center on bogus hospice providers first exposed by The Times in 2020 and later investigated by California Atty.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.