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
There's been clashes between players and rancour between unions, but all of that will be phoney wars compared to what is about to happen in Dublin.
From BBC • Mar. 7, 2026
Buying London "consists of phoney conversations, confected drama and lip filler", she said, describing the series as "superficially fun, but ultimately soulless and artificial".
From BBC • May 22, 2024
It was a Hampden shocker, sure, but the phoney war of friendlies isn't to be taken too seriously, right?
From BBC • Mar. 27, 2024
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.
