counterfeit

[koun-ter-fit]

See more synonyms for counterfeit on Thesaurus.com

adjective

made in imitation so as to be passed off fraudulently or deceptively as genuine; not genuine; forged: counterfeit dollar bills.
pretended; unreal: counterfeit grief.

noun

an imitation intended to be passed off fraudulently or deceptively as genuine; forgery.
Archaic. a copy.
Archaic. a close likeness; portrait.
Obsolete. impostor; pretender.

verb (used with object)

to make a counterfeit of; imitate fraudulently; forge.
to resemble.
to simulate.

verb (used without object)

to make counterfeits, as of money.
to feign; dissemble.

Origin of counterfeit

1250–1300; (adj.) Middle English countrefet false, forged < Anglo-French cuntrefet, Old French contrefait, past participle of conterfere to copy, imitate, equivalent to conter- counter- + fere to make, do ≪ Latin facere (see fact); (v.) Middle English countrefeten, verbal derivative of countrefet

Related formscoun·ter·feit·er, nouncoun·ter·feit·ly, adverbcoun·ter·feit·ness, nounnon·coun·ter·feit, adjectiveun·coun·ter·feit·ed, adjective

Synonyms for counterfeit

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1. spurious, bogus. See false. 2. sham, feigned, simulated, fraudulent; mock, fake, ersatz. 3. falsification, sham. 7. copy; falsify.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for counterfeit

spurious, phony, fraudulent, fictitious, bogus, forged, false, copied, fabricate, brummagem, plant, affected, bent, put-on, assumed, queer, pseudo, pretended, wrong, feigned

Examples from the Web for counterfeit

Contemporary Examples of counterfeit

It remains unclear when Spinal Solutions began to counterfeit surgical implants.
Patients Screwed in Spine Surgery ‘Scam’
The Center for Investigative Reporting
November 3, 2014
In one of the last desperate acts of World War II, the SS dumped crates full of counterfeit money into nearby Lake Toplitz.
On the Trail of Nazi Counterfeiters
Dr. Kevin C. Ruffner
September 20, 2014
Schwend apparently retained one-third of the profits derived from the sale of the counterfeit money.
On the Trail of Nazi Counterfeiters
Dr. Kevin C. Ruffner
September 20, 2014
Spitz made six trips and exchanged some 600,000 marks worth of counterfeit English pounds.
On the Trail of Nazi Counterfeiters
Dr. Kevin C. Ruffner
September 20, 2014
New York City alone, the show claims, loses $1 billion in taxes a year to the counterfeit industry.
Museum of Fakes for a City of Fakes
William O’Connor
June 25, 2014

Historical Examples of counterfeit

At this favorable moment the counterfeit conjurers disappeared.
The Last of the Mohicans
James Fenimore Cooper
And anyhow, repining is only a counterfeit repentance, you know.
The Cavalier
George Washington Cable
Thus are all things represented by counterfeit, and yet without this there was no living.
The Praise of Folly
Desiderius Erasmus
Or what is it that their own very names are often counterfeit or borrowed from some books of the ancients?
The Praise of Folly
Desiderius Erasmus
I am no counterfeit, nor do I carry one thing in my looks and another in my breast.
The Praise of Folly
Desiderius Erasmus

British Dictionary definitions for counterfeit

counterfeit

adjective

made in imitation of something genuine with the intent to deceive or defraud; forged
simulated; shamcounterfeit affection

noun

an imitation designed to deceive or defraud
archaic an impostor; cheat

verb

(tr) to make a fraudulent imitation of
(intr) to make counterfeits
to feign; simulate
(tr) to imitate; copy

Derived Formscounterfeiter, noun

Word Origin for counterfeit

C13: from Old French contrefait, from contrefaire to copy, from contre- counter- + faire to make, from Latin facere

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

Word Origin and History for counterfeit

late 13c., from Old French contrefait "imitated" (Modern French contrefait), past participle of contrefaire "imitate," from contre- "against" (see contra-) + faire "to make, to do" (from Latin facere; see factitious). Medieval Latin contrafactio meant "setting in opposition or contrast." Related: Counterfeited; counterfeiting. The noun and adjective are from late 14c.