phony

¹

Or pho·ney

[foh-nee]

adjective

phonier, phoniest 

1. not real or genuine; fake; counterfeit.

   a phony diamond.

2. false or deceiving; not truthful; concocted.

   a phony explanation.

3. insincere or deceitful; affected or pretentious.

   a phony sales representative.

noun

plural

phonies 

1. something that is phony; a counterfeit or fake.

   Synonyms: hoax, imitation, fraud

2. an insincere, pretentious, or deceitful person.

   He thought my friends were a bunch of phonies.

verb (used with object)

phonied, phonying 

1. to falsify; counterfeit; fabricate (often followed byup ).

   to phony up a document.

-phony

²

1. a combining form used in the formation of abstract nouns corresponding to nouns ending in -phone:

   telephony.

-phony

¹

combining form

1. indicating a specified type of sound

   cacophony

   euphony

phony

²

/ ˈfəʊnɪ /

adjective

1. a variant spelling (esp US) of phoney

Other Word Forms

• phonily adverb
• phoniness noun
• -phonic combining form

Word History and Origins

Origin of phony¹

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

Origin of phony²

< Greek -phōnia; -phone, -y ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of phony¹

from Greek -phōnia, from phōnē sound

Example Sentences

The morning after his dinner with Wing Chau, Eisman woke up to his first glimpse of the bond market in the flesh, and a lot of sensationally phony baroque ceiling frescoes.

Read more on Literature

The Ashes phony war began in the summer when David Warner described Root's front pad as a "surfboard", suggesting he is an lbw candidate.

Read more on BBC

President Eisenhower’s phony cover story hit newspapers the next morning, May 4.

Read more on Literature

Yet, this is a character who hates pity and I can’t help but admire that Ramsay faces down today’s phonily upbeat and relatable motherhood discourse with this boogey-mom who keeps herself aloof.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Soft know-it-alls from the city and phonies of any stripe receive rough treatment in his shows, such as the llama farmer from California who gets thrown under a Montana cattle guard in “Yellowstone.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• bogus 
• counterfeit 
• forged www.thesaurus.com
• sham 
• spurious 

When To Use

Where does phony come from?

Phony is a word that means "fake" or "made up." But there is nothing fake about this unusual origin story for the word. While the exact origins of phony are unknown, the word likely comes from an old con known as the fawney rig. Fawney is from an Irish word for "finger ring," and rig is an old term for a "trick" or "swindle."As for how the trick worked, the swindler would "accidentally" drop a piece of cheap jewelry in front of their target. Then, they would pick it up while acting relieved that they hadn't lost such a supposedly valuable ring. If the scheme was a success, they'd sell it to the target for much more than it was actually worth.By the 20th century, the spelling of the word was eventually changed from fawney to phony and came to refer to anything fake or counterfeit.The roots of these other words may get a rise—of laughter or surprise—out of you. Run on over to our roundup of them at "Weird Word Origins That Will Make Your Family Laugh."