Phony definition

fōnē
phoneys phonier phonies phoniest
See word origin
Frequency:
A fraudulent or dishonest person.
noun
8
2
Not genuine; false, counterfeit, spurious, pretentious, etc.
adjective
7
1
Something that is not genuine; a fake.
noun
10
5
Fraudulent, deceitful, or dishonest.

A phony expert in investing.

adjective
3
2
Something not genuine; sham; fake.
noun
2
1
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Phony is something or someone that is not as it seems, or a person who pretends to be something he is not.

Someone who is poor but who pretends to be rich to impress others is an example of a phony.

noun
1
0
The definition of phony is someone or something that is not genuine, or not honest or insincere.

A knock-off Gucci purse is an example of a purse that would be described as phony.

adjective
1
0
A person who is not what he or she pretends to be; one who deceives, dissembles, is insincere, etc.; fraud.
noun
2
2
A (specified kind of) sound.

Polyphony.

affix
0
0
Fraudulent; fake; having a misleading appearance.

A good jeweler should be able to tell a real stone from a phony one.

adjective
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0
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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.

noun
0
0
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.

noun
0
0
Sound.

Telephony.

suffix
0
1
Not genuine or real; sham or counterfeit.

A phony credit card; a phony beard.

adjective
1
3
Spurious, deceptive, or false.

A phony excuse.

adjective
1
3
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Alternative Forms

Alternative Form of phony - phoney, hoaky

Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
phony
Plural:
phonies

Adjective

Base Form:
phony
Comparative:
phonier
Superlative:
phoniest

Origin of phony

  • < Gr phōnē, a sound: see phono-

    From Webster's New World College Dictionary, 5th Edition

  • Alteration of fawney gilt brass ring used by swindlers from Irish Gaelic fáinne ring from Old Irish

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Greek -phōniā from phōnē sound, voice bhā-2 in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Perhaps an alteration of fawney “gilt brass ring used by swindlers" (1781), from Irish fáinne (“ring").

    From Wiktionary

Phony Sentence Examples

  • Sure, it looks like a phony and we've got to check it out, but my money says it's a drowning.

  • This prank is a bit more sophisticated than the phony dog poop that people used to buy at joke shops.

  • You wouldn't want to order tickets over the Internet just to have your information stolen or to be given phony tickets.

  • Reinvention for the purposes of dating is phony and it's also a hard act to keep up.

  • The replica industry generates billions of dollars in the sale of non-taxed phony merchandise.

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Words near phony in the Dictionary