counterfeit
[koun-ter-fit]
- made in imitation so as to be passed off fraudulently or deceptively as genuine; not genuine; forged: counterfeit dollar bills.
- pretended; unreal: counterfeit grief.
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- an imitation intended to be passed off fraudulently or deceptively as genuine; forgery.
- Archaic. a copy.
- Archaic. a close likeness; portrait.
- Obsolete. impostor; pretender.
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- to make a counterfeit of; imitate fraudulently; forge.
- to resemble.
- to simulate.
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- to make counterfeits, as of money.
- to feign; dissemble.
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Origin of counterfeit
Synonyms
See more synonyms for counterfeit on Thesaurus.com1. 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
Examples from the Web for counterfeit
Contemporary Examples
It remains unclear when Spinal Solutions began to counterfeit surgical implants.
In one of the last desperate acts of World War II, the SS dumped crates full of counterfeit money into nearby Lake Toplitz.
Schwend apparently retained one-third of the profits derived from the sale of the counterfeit money.
Spitz made six trips and exchanged some 600,000 marks worth of counterfeit English pounds.
New York City alone, the show claims, loses $1 billion in taxes a year to the counterfeit industry.
Historical Examples
At this favorable moment the counterfeit conjurers disappeared.
The Last of the MohicansJames Fenimore Cooper
And anyhow, repining is only a counterfeit repentance, you know.
The CavalierGeorge Washington Cable
Thus are all things represented by counterfeit, and yet without this there was no living.
The Praise of FollyDesiderius Erasmus
Or what is it that their own very names are often counterfeit or borrowed from some books of the ancients?
The Praise of FollyDesiderius Erasmus
I am no counterfeit, nor do I carry one thing in my looks and another in my breast.
The Praise of FollyDesiderius Erasmus
counterfeit
- made in imitation of something genuine with the intent to deceive or defraud; forged
- simulated; shamcounterfeit affection
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- an imitation designed to deceive or defraud
- archaic an impostor; cheat
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- (tr) to make a fraudulent imitation of
- (intr) to make counterfeits
- to feign; simulate
- (tr) to imitate; copy
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Word Origin
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
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Word Origin and History for counterfeit
v.
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper