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• phony
  phony

  adjective

  not real or genuine; fake; counterfeit.
• -phony
  -phony

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

phony

¹ American  

[foh-nee] / ˈfoʊ ni /

Or phoney

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.

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noun

phonies plural

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 American  

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

   telephony.

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-phony ¹ British  

combining form

1. indicating a specified type of sound

   cacophony

   euphony

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phony ² British  

/ ˈfəʊnɪ /

adjective

1. a variant spelling (esp US) of phoney

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Usage

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."

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• phoniness
  noun
• phonily
  adverb
• -phonic
  combining form

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• phonies
  plural

Etymology

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; see -phone, -y ³

Explanation

Whether you're talking about your attitude, a gigantic diamond, or that obnoxious guy's claims that he knows everything about quantum physics, you can use phony to say that something’s not real. Use the adjective phony to describe anything that’s fake. If you’re making phony money in the basement, you’ll be in trouble if you get caught using it. Phony has a noun version with a similar meaning. If you say someone or something is a phony, then you’re saying it isn’t what it pretends to be. Someone who’s a phony isn’t sincere, like your classmate who pretended to be your best friend just to try to steal your boyfriend.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

phony phonies phonier phoniest phonied

One of the timeworn accusations against Holden Caulfield is hypocrisy: This guy calls everyone else phony, but he’s just as phony!

From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026

Instead, Coffin sketches his idea of a Hollywood creep, the phony let’s-do-lunch schmoozer, with Jeff Bridges voicing a set of twin studio moguls who play bad boss/backhanded boss.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

Romania-based cybersecurity company Bitdefender also said it found 55 football-related scam ad campaigns on Meta platforms, including promotions for phony collectibles and merchandise.

From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026

He suspected that they thought he might be carrying a phony passport, but he was happy to clear up any confusion.

From Slate ● Apr. 19, 2026

The door opens again, and Mrs. Brown steps back in, smiling that phony smile grown-ups smile when they are keeping bad news from you.

From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez

They would have to embark last—eliminating the phonies who game the system to sit near the front, facilitating an orderly exit.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 5, 2026

Mr. Musk trashed Mr. Zuckerberg’s Instagram as a dwelling for fakers and phonies in a Wednesday evening post to Twitter.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 6, 2023

The few who object are marked as fools, phonies or outright villains.

From New York Times ● Feb. 23, 2022

Baby boomers were phonies, they realized, just like everyone else.

From Salon ● Feb. 16, 2022

One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies.

From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger

Angelenos can spot a phony from far away — and Spencer, you’re turning out to be phonier than the fake drama on any of the television shows you ever appeared in.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026

Arthur Julian, a writer on “F Troop,” noted that “real audiences sound phonier than the laugh track. Sometimes they freeze up and act unnatural.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026

But the screenplay, by David Benioff, Billy Ray, and Darren Lemke, can’t stand that level of scrutiny, and the closer we get to the actors mouthing their clunky, mock-allegorical dialogue, the phonier they seem.

From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2019

Is an imitation Kardashian any phonier than the real?

From New York Times ● Dec. 10, 2011

The phonier it got, the more she cried.

From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger

Baseball strikes, lockouts, labor actions — whatever you want to call them — are the phoniest things in sports next to soccer injuries.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2022

When it came to decorating his own new home, he threw out all the rules of good taste and embraced the phoniest of fakes.

From New York Times ● Apr. 10, 2014

What would be the phoniest thing of all would be for me to all of the sudden not be his friend.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 26, 2011

NEWPORT, Wales -- So it was, inevitably and predictably, the phoniest of conflicts.

From Golf Digest ● Sep. 30, 2010

“That was the phoniest thing I’ve ever heard.”

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

She was indicted for inducing her client, convicted Kidnaper John William Irwin, to testify falsely in an effort to prove that Sinatra phonied up the kidnaping as a publicity stunt.

From Time Magazine Archive

Every time I go anywhere now it's all phonied up.

From Time Magazine Archive

Related Words

• bogus
• counterfeit
• forged
• sham
• spurious