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counterfeit Definition

counter·feit (ko̵unt′ər fit′)

adjective

  1. made in imitation of something genuine so as to deceive or defraud; forged counterfeit money
  2. pretended; sham; feigned counterfeit sorrow

Etymology: ME countrefete < OFr contrefait, pp. of contrefaire, to make in opposition, imitate < contre-, counter- + faire < L facere, to make, do

noun

    1. an imitation made to deceive; forgery
    2. something that so closely resembles something else as to mislead
  2. Obsolete an impostor; cheat

transitive verb, intransitive verb

  1. to make an imitation of (money, pictures, etc.), usually in order to deceive or defraud
  2. to pretend; feign
  3. to resemble (something) closely

counterfeit Related Forms
coun′·ter·feit′er noun
counterfeit Synonyms

counterfeit

modif.

  1. Not genuine

    sham, forged, bogus, spurious; see artificial 1, false 3.

  2. Pretended

    assumed, pretentious, put-on; see affected 2, pretended. See syn. study at artificial, false.

counterfeit Synonyms

counterfeit

v.

  1. To defraud by making copies of money, stamps, etc.

    forge, print money, copy money, copy stamps, make counterfeit money, falsify, coin, circulate bad money; see also forge 1, mint 1.

  2. To pretend

    simulate, feign, fake, delude; see pretend 1, simulate.

counterfeit Law Definition

v

To copy or imitate something without the right to do so and with the intent to deceive or defraud by representing the copy or imitation to be the original or to be genuine if no original ever existed (such as passing off a painting as a particular work by Claude Monet when, in fact, Monet never painted such a piece of art).
counterfeit Usage Examples

Object

  • currency: Think of what happened as the government having legalized the right to counterfeit the national currency for private gain.
  • ring: Moreover, international counterfeiting rings have become even more sophisticated in their methods of producing A look alike @ software and components.
  • offense: This is the highest custodial sentence recorded in Scotland for a counterfeiting offense.
  • operation: The people at BRAND PROTECT LLP are familiar with all types of counterfeiting operations.
  • card: Highly organized international criminal gangs would waste little time in trying to counterfeit cards.
  • activity: Since then North Korea and the US have become embroiled in a dispute over allegations that North Korea is engaged in counterfeiting activities.

Converse of object

  • make: It only gains enough information from overhearing the conversation to make a magnetic stripe counterfeit.
  • sell: A new European Directive seeks to enforce intellectual property rights with retailers facing jail for knowingly selling counterfeit or copied goods.

Modifies a noun

  • banknote: Third, the Bank works closely with law enforcement agencies investigating counterfeit banknotes.
  • dvds: A Chinese male DVD street seller was arrested as he attempted to sell counterfeit DVDs to passers by.
  • cigarette: More than 41 million packets of counterfeit cigarettes were seized in 2004, a rise of 25 per cent over the previous year.
  • coin: You will take counterfeit coins thinking they are real.
  • currency: Quite how much counterfeit currency still remains buried in these aquatic depths cannot accurately be told.
  • tobacco: The street seller was caught with 150 DVDs and found to be in the possession of counterfeit tobacco and cigarettes.

Modifying Another Word

  • not: They have the genuine anointing, the Spirit, he's real, not counterfeit like the false teachers ' offers.
  • easily: It turns out that this coin can be easily counterfeited using a 500 won ( Korean currency ) coin worth only 50 yen.

Adjective complement

  • difficult: I guess such scheme would make the counterfeiting very difficult.

Used with adjective complement

  • sell: They had found Mr Frey selling counterfeit DVDs that included films that had only just gone on general release in the cinema.
  • distribute: Surveillance revealed that Chinese nationals were possibly using an industrial unit for duplicating and distributing counterfeit DVDs.

Preposition: of

  • product: This success has brought with it a massive increase in the counterfeiting of Lacoste products.