Phoney

Adjective

 * 1) 1900 Fraudulent; fake; having a misleading appearance.
 * A good jeweler should be able to tell a real stone from a phoney one.

Synonyms

 * bogus, counterfeit, fake
 * See also Thesaurus:fake

Derived terms

 * phoneyness
 * phoniness

Noun

 * 1) A person who assumes an identity or quality other than their own.
 * He claims to be a doctor, but he's nothing but a fast-talking phoney.
 * 1) A person who professes beliefs or opinions that he or she does not hold.

Synonyms

 * dissembler
 * pretender
 * fake

Thesaurus
artificial, bogus, charlatan, counterfeit, counterfeiter, deceitful, deceiver, dishonest, double-dealer, ersatz, factitious, fake, faker, false, forgery, fraud, fraudulent, hoax, humbug, hypocritical, imitation, impostor, insincere, mock, mountebank, paste, phony, pretended, pretender, quack, sham, spurious, synthetic, trickster, unreal

Alternative forms

 * phony

Etymology
Perhaps an alteration of fawney “gilt brass ring used by swindlers” (1781), from Ir. fáinne “ring.”

Adjective

 * Arabic: (báhraj),  (xarrāʂ)
 * Chinese: 伪 (wěi), 冒牌 (màopái)
 * Dutch: onecht, nagemaakt (usu. counterfeit)
 * Finnish: ,
 * French:, , , , à la noix, à la gomme
 * German: unecht, falsch, Schein-


 * Hebrew: מזויף
 * Italian:
 * Japanese: 偽物の (にせものの, nisemono no)
 * Russian: поддельный (poddél’nyj), фальшивый (fal’šívyj)
 * Spanish:

Noun

 * Finnish:


 * French:, , , faussaire


 * French: mystificateur, ,

Derived terms

 * phoney up
 * Phoney War