phoney

[ foh-nee ]

/ ˈfoʊ ni /

adjective, pho·ni·er, pho·ni·est, noun, plural pho·neys, verb (used with object), pho·neyed, pho·ney·ing.

phony.

Nearby words

Related formspho·ney·ness, noun

phony

or pho·ney

[ foh-nee ]

/ ˈfoʊ ni /

adjective, pho·ni·er, pho·ni·est.

not real or genuine; fake; counterfeit: a phony diamond.

false or deceiving; not truthful; concocted: a phony explanation.

insincere or deceitful; affected or pretentious: a phony sales representative.

noun, plural pho·nies.

something that is phony; a counterfeit or fake.

an insincere, pretentious, or deceitful person: He thought my friends were a bunch of phonies.

verb (used with object), pho·nied, pho·ny·ing.

to falsify; counterfeit; fabricate (often followed by up): to phony up a document.

Origin of phony

1895–1900; perhaps alteration and respelling of fawney (slang) finger ring (< Irish fsptáinne), if taken to mean “false” in the phrase fawney rig a confidence game in which a brass ring is sold as a gold one

SYNONYMS FOR phony

4. fraud, imitation, hoax.

Related formspho·ni·ly, adverbpho·ni·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for phoney

It had had, in fact, to be an honest job of ship-building in order to put across a phoney promotion.
Operation: Outer Space|William Fitzgerald Jenkins
A good-looking mustache, well groomed and shaped, but phoney as a wax banana.
The Observers|G. L. Vandenburg
It would be an adventure, at least, and Murphy's repeated assertions that it was "a phoney" invited investigation.
Spring Street|James H. Richardson
If her seven clients hadn't been so phoney she might have gotten away with it.
The Observers|G. L. Vandenburg

Maybe we ought to cut out all this phoney progress and phoney peace that passeth all understanding.
This Crowded Earth|Robert Bloch

British Dictionary definitions for phoney

phoney

esp US phony

informal

adjective -nier or -niest

not genuine; fake

(of a person) insincere or pretentious

noun plural -neys or -nies

an insincere or pretentious person

something that is not genuine; a fake

Derived Formsphoneyness or esp US phoniness, noun

Word Origin for phoney

C20: origin uncertain

phony

/ (ˈfəʊnɪ) /

adjective, noun -nier or -niest or plural -nies

a variant spelling (esp US) of phoney

Derived Formsphoniness, noun

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 phoney

phony

adj.

also phoney, "not genuine," 1899, perhaps an alteration of fawney "gilt brass ring used by swindlers."

His most successful swindle was selling "painted" or "phony" diamonds. He had a plan of taking cheap stones, and by "doctoring" them make them have a brilliant and high class appearance. His confederates would then take the diamonds to other pawnbrokers and dispose of them. ["The Jewelers Review," New York, April 5, 1899]

The noun meaning "phony person or thing" is attested from 1902.