phony

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an informal word meaning 'sham, fake' (adjective and noun), is of uncertain origin and not traced in print before 1900. Its currency was greatly boosted by the use of the term phoney war to refer to the relative inaction in the early months of the Second World War. Phoney is the preferred spelling, although phony is also used.

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also phoney

adjective

1. Fraudulently or deceptively imitative: bogus, counterfeit, fake, false, fraudulent, sham, spurious, suppositious, supposititious. See true/false.
2. Not genuine or sincere: affected, artificial, feigned, insincere, pretended. See true/false.
3. Of or practicing hypocrisy: hypocritical, Pecksniffian, pharisaic, pharisaical, sanctimonious, two-faced. See honest/dishonest.

noun

1. A fraudulent imitation: counterfeit, fake, forgery, sham. See true/false.
2. One who fakes: charlatan, fake, faker, fraud, humbug, impostor, mountebank, pretender, quack. See true/false.
3. A person who practices hypocrisy: hypocrite, pharisee, tartuffe. See honest/dishonest.

Origin: 1900

We began the 1900s in a phony way, at least in our slang. The first instance of phony meaning "fake" or "not genuine" is from journalist George Ade in his book More Fables In Slang, published in 1900: "The Sensitive Waitress hurried Away, feeling hurt. 'Overlook all the Phoney Acting by the Little Lady, Bud,' said the Fireman to the Advance Agent. 'She's only twenty-seven.'" Then in 1902, in the even more extreme slang of C. L. Cullen's Six Ex-Tank Tales, we find another instance of phony: "If youse tinks f'r a minnit dat youse is goin't' git away wit' a phony like dat wit' me youse is got hay in y'r hemp, dat's wot."

Before the new century was much further advanced, phony became sufficiently dignified to appear in more standard contexts as well, although it still had a strong colloquial flavor. In the Saturday Evening Post of 1909 we find a character saying, "I gave the sucker my name and address (both phony of course) and promised to send two hundred dollars as soon as I got home." And in the 1949 Chicago Tribune, "Stop moaning about that phony blonde and her phonier lawsuit."

The origin of phony is obscure, but it has been linked to the English cant expression fawney rig (1754), a swindle in which a brass ring or other piece of jewelry is dropped before a victim. The cheat then retrieves the expensive-looking ring and offers it to the victim at a supposedly bargain price. Fawney is attributed to Irish fáinne, meaning "ring," as it was a ring that was most popular in this scam.

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IN BRIEF: A person who professes beliefs and opinions that he does not hold. Also: Fraudulent.

Strip away the phony tinsel of Hollywood and you'll find the real tinsel underneath. — Oscar Levant (1906-1972)

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verb trans. and intr.
Also phony Also phony
verb trans. and intr., mainly US

to phoney up To make phoney; to falsify or counterfeit. (1940 —) .

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For a list of words related to phony, see:

• Morality or Character
• Bad, False, Evil, Insincere, or Dishonest
• Falsehood, Pretense, and Exaggeration - phony: (adj) false; counterfeit; (n) insincere or deceitful person

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See words rhyming with "phoney."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Phony.

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - forloren
n. - humbug, fidusmager

idioms:

• phoney war    krig, der ikke er nogen virkelig krig

Nederlands (Dutch)
nep-, vals, bedrieger

Français (French)
adj. - faux, bidon, simulé, en toc, poseur
n. - poseur, charlatan, faux

idioms:

• phoney war    (Hist) la drôle de guerre

Deutsch (German)
n. - Schwindler
adj. - falsch, gefälscht, erfunden

idioms:

• phoney war    Scheinkrieg

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - απατεώνας, κάλπης
adj. - κάλπικος, πλαστός, ψευδεπίγραφος, ψεύτικος, κίβδηλος

idioms:

• phoney war    πλασματικός πόλεμος

Italiano (Italian)
falso

idioms:

• phoney war    i primi mesi della II guerra mondiale

Português (Portuguese)
n. - impostor (m), mentira (f), embuste (m)
adj. - falso, imitação

idioms:

• phoney war    guerra fictícia

Русский (Russian)
фальшивый

idioms:

• phoney war    странная война, подделка/имитация войны

Español (Spanish)
adj. - falso, postizo, falsificado
n. - farsa, engaño, farsante

idioms:

• phoney war    (1939) la extraña guerra, período de calma en el frente occidental al comienzo de la 2da. guerra mundial

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - humbug, bluff, posör
adj. - falsk, misstänkt

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
虚假的, 伪造的, 华而不实的, 膺品, 骗人的东西

idioms:

• phoney war    虚构战争

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 虛假的, 偽造的, 華而不實的
n. - 膺品, 騙人的東西

idioms:

• phoney war    虛構戰爭

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 가짜의, 허위의
n. - 가짜, 위조품, 사기꾼

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - にせもの, いんちき, いんちきの, 詐欺師

idioms:

• phoney war    にせ戦

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) شيء مزيف, دجال, محتال (صفه) مزيف, مصطنع, كاذب‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮מזוייף, כוזב‬
n. - ‮דבר או אדם מזויפים‬

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