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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.

As AI falsehoods explode across social media, often outpacing the capacity of professional fact-checkers, bogus detectors risk adding another layer of deception to an already fractured information ecosystem.

From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026

“These defendants allegedly fabricated documents, staged bogus equipment to pass audit inventories, and used a pass-through company to conceal their misconduct and true clientele list,” federal prosecutors said.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 19, 2026

Clint Patterson says his mother privately confirmed his suspicions that the family’s claim to fame was bogus, but he kept quiet to protect their financial stream.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026

“We don’t know how many of them are bogus, and how many of them are legitimate, and so it’s hard to understand how big of a problem it is,” Trujillo said.

From Salon • Mar. 12, 2026

“All locked up. Dr. C has been totally bogus to us.”

From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld

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.