counterfeit
Americanadjective
noun
-
counterfeits
plural
-
an imitation intended to be passed off fraudulently or deceptively as genuine; forgery.
- Synonyms:
- sham, falsification
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Archaic. a copy.
-
Archaic. a close likeness; portrait.
-
Obsolete. impostor; pretender.
verb (used with object)
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counterfeits,
present (3rd person singular)
-
counterfeited,
past participle, past
-
counterfeiting
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
counterfeits,
present (3rd person singular)
-
counterfeited,
past participle, past
-
counterfeiting
present participle
-
to make counterfeits, as of money.
-
to feign; dissemble.
adjective
-
made in imitation of something genuine with the intent to deceive or defraud; forged
-
simulated; sham
counterfeit affection
noun
-
an imitation designed to deceive or defraud
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archaic an impostor; cheat
verb
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(tr) to make a fraudulent imitation of
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(intr) to make counterfeits
-
to feign; simulate
-
(tr) to imitate; copy
Synonym Usage
See false.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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counterfeiternoun
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counterfeitnessnoun
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noncounterfeitadjective
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uncounterfeitedadjective
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counterfeitlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
counterfeitsimple
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counterfeitssimple
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have counterfeitedperfect
-
has counterfeitedperfect
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am counterfeitingprogressive
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are counterfeitingprogressive
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is counterfeitingprogressive
-
have been counterfeitingperfect progressive
-
has been counterfeitingperfect progressive
Past
-
counterfeitedsimple
-
had counterfeitedperfect
-
was counterfeitingprogressive
-
were counterfeitingprogressive
-
had been counterfeitingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of counterfeit
First recorded in 1250–1300; (adjective) Middle English countrefet “false, forged,” from Anglo-French cuntrefet, Old French contrefait, contrefet, past participle of contrefaire, contrefere “to copy, imitate,” equivalent to conter- counter- + fere “to make, do,” ultimately from Latin facere ( see fact); (verb) Middle English countrefeten, verbal derivative of countrefet
Explanation
A counterfeit is a fake or a forgery. If you painted an uncanny copy of the "Mona Lisa" and tried to pass it off as the original, you'd have a counterfeit on your hands. An exact imitation of anything — a work of art, a ten dollar bill — is a counterfeit, and the act of creating the fake copy is the verb to counterfeit. You can also describe the forgery using the adjective form of counterfeit: a counterfeit Rolex watch. In Old French, the word contre, "counter or against", together with the word faire, "to make," joined together to mean "to make in imitation," which led to our counterfeit.
Vocabulary lists containing counterfeit
Against All Odds: Contra and Counter
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Fake It 'Til You Make It: Synonyms for "False"
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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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.
See Examples For:
While Poland remains Europe's leading country for counterfeit cigarette production, Belgium has become a key base for traffickers looking to offload their low-cost products in markets such as Britain and France.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
The department had initially intercepted and inspected the shipment at the port based on a tip received by its counterfeit and piracy enforcement team, the department said in the release.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
Trading-card grading volume is growing year over year, hitting a record high this April, and so is counterfeit activity.
From Slate ● Aug. 31, 2026
Yet many repair shops end up with substandard counterfeit parts that risk exploding during a crash or not deploying at all, according to court documents and regulators.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
“Imponderables are ponderable, but answerable, no. Ask a philosopher, but be cautious. If you hear, ‘Eureka!,’ if you think, ‘His answer has captured my question!,’ then here is proof he is a counterfeit.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
The experts reassured me that preinstalled malware is rare, but there are other, more common dangers: activation-locked devices, shoddy replacement parts, outdated models—or even counterfeits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
DTN has said it believes the inflaters identified are counterfeits of its own product.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
While genuine and safe bargains are available, experts have warned about counterfeits endangering children and the health of others.
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2026
They also are more flexible about storing goods like counterfeits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025
I am speaking of love which is worthy of the name, not of its many counterfeits.
From Courtship and Marriage And the Gentle Art of Home-Making by Annie S. (Annie Shepherd) Swan
The Chinese company, DTN Airbag, has said it doesn’t do business with customers in the U.S. and that it believes the company’s parts have been counterfeited.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Nine Italian nationals have been arrested and charged with trading in counterfeited goods.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2024
But Leas sees these documents as mostly marketing, and these reports can be counterfeited.
From Slate ● Jul. 18, 2024
“Love” stamp was counterfeited in a size larger than the authentic postage stamp.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 19, 2023
We cannot ignore the possibility that the work may have been done by someone else, or that someone counterfeited the mark into the stone much later.
From "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" by E.L. Konigsburg
“It looks like the company’s seemingly blatant attempts at counterfeiting patented weight-loss drugs via compounding finally went too far,” said On the Street Substack author Herb Greenberg.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 9, 2026
The Constitution contemplates Congress having limited law-enforcement powers and even specifies crimes it can punish: treason, counterfeiting, “offences against the law of nations” and “piracies and felonies on the high seas.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 8, 2025
Both men were charged with "counterfeiting medicines or medical products", and the 26-year-old also faces money-laundering charges.
From Barron's ● Dec. 3, 2025
When you see the counterfeiting in “To Live and Die L.A.,” people were fascinated by that.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2025
Secret Service, which was already responsible for defending the government against fraud and counterfeiting.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
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.
