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Definition 2024

phony

phony

See also: -phony

English

Alternative forms

phoney (British)

Adjective

phony ‎(comparative phonier, superlative phoniest)

Fraudulent; fake; having a misleading appearance.
A good jeweler should be able to tell a real stone from a phony one.

Synonyms

(fraudulent): bogus, counterfeit, fake
See also Wikisaurus:fake

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

fraudulent; fake

Arabic: بَهْرَج m ‎(bahraj), خَرَّاص m ‎(ḵarrāṣ)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 假 (zh) ‎(jiǎ)
Dutch: onecht (nl), nagemaakt (nl)
Esperanto: falsa
Finnish: väärä (fi), väärennetty (fi)
French: frauduleux (fr) m, contrefait (fr) m, falsifié (fr) m, faux (fr) m, à la noix (fr), à la gomme (fr)

Georgian: ცრუ ‎(cru), ყალბი ‎(q̇albi)
German: gefälscht (de),
Hebrew: מזויף
Italian: falso (it), fasullo (it)
Japanese: 偽 (ja) ‎(にせ, nise), 贋 (ja) ‎(にせ, nise), 偽物の ‎(にせものの, nisemono no)
Portuguese: falso (pt), de araque
Russian: фальши́вый (ru) m ‎(falʹšívyj), подде́льный (ru) m ‎(poddélʹnyj), ненастоя́щий (ru) m ‎(nenastojáščij)
Spanish: falso (es)
Swedish: falsk (sv), oäkta (sv)

Noun

phony ‎(plural phonies)

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 phony.
A person who professes beliefs or opinions that they do not hold.
He's such a phony, he doesn't believe half of what he says.

Synonyms

(faker): dissembler, pretender, fake, faker

Derived terms

phony up, phoney up
Phony War, Phoney War

Translations

a person who assumes an identity or quality other than their own

Finnish: huijari (fi)
French: usurpateur (fr) m, usurpatrice (fr) f, faux-nez (fr), faussaire (fr)
German: Hochstapler (de) m

Japanese: 詐欺師 (ja) ‎(さぎし, sagishi)
Russian: прики́дчик m ‎(prikídčik), прики́дчица f ‎(prikídčica)
Swedish: bluff (sv) c, bedragare (sv) c

a person who professes beliefs or opinions that they do not hold

French: mystificateur (fr) m, guignol (fr) m, faux (fr) prophète (fr) m