bo·gus

[boh-guhs]
adjective
1.
not genuine; counterfeit; spurious; sham.
noun
2.
Printing, Journalism. matter set, by union requirement, by a compositor and later discarded, duplicating the text of an advertisement for which a plate has been supplied or type set by another publisher.

Origin:
1825–30, Americanism; originally an apparatus for coining false money; perhaps akin to bogy1


1. fraudulent, pseudo, fake, phony.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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World English Dictionary
bogus (ˈbəʊɡəs) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adj
spurious or counterfeit; not genuine: a bogus note
 
[C19: from bogus apparatus for making counterfeit money; perhaps related to bogey1]
 
'bogusly
 
adv
 
'bogusness
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10
Bogus is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

bogus
"counterfeit money," 1839, Amer.Eng., apparently from a slang word applied in Ohio in 1827 to a counterfeiter's apparatus. Some trace this to tantrabobus, a late 18c. colloquial Vermont word for any odd-looking object, which may be connected to tantarabobs, recorded as a Devonshire name for the devil.
Others trace it to the same source as bogey (1).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

bogus definition

[ˈbogəs]
  1. mod.
    phony; false; undesirable. : This class is really bogus.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Example sentences
He then imposed the bogus botanical theories of favoured scientists on farmers
  who knew better, but had no choice but to comply.
Wasteful public spending subsidises an army of bogus welfare claimants.
Former customers say the company's teenage owner has pillaged their credit
  cards for thousands in bogus charges.
As a result, many users get revenge by submitting bogus information.
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