phoney
Americanadjective
adjective
-
not genuine; fake
-
(of a person) insincere or pretentious
noun
-
an insincere or pretentious person
-
something that is not genuine; a fake
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of phoney
C20: origin uncertain
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.
Broken computer monitors in bombed-out offices, scattered fake police uniforms and phoney hundred-dollar bills: these were the vestiges of a frantic escape of suspected cyberscammers fleeing a resort on the Cambodia-Thailand border.
From Barron's • Mar. 12, 2026
For years, phoney modelling agencies have been taking cash from young people desperate for a leg up into the industry, charging hundreds for fake portfolios and jobs that never materialise.
From BBC • Oct. 6, 2025
Antoni, who has a PhD in economics, has previously criticised the BLS, questioning its methodology and calling its statistics "phoney baloney".
From BBC • Aug. 11, 2025
Schofield said sarcastically: "What a delight to have had you here," to which Woodburn snapped back: "You big phoney."
From BBC • Jun. 17, 2025
That whole business with the psychiatrist that dragged on forever. 10TH JUROR: NOW don’t start with all that phoney psycho- whatever-you-call-it-stuff.
From "Twelve Angry Men" by Reginald Rose
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.
