Nearby Words
pho·ny
[foh-nee] adjective, pho·ni·er, pho·ni·est, noun, plural pho·nies, verb, pho·nied, pho·ny·ing. adjective
1.
not real or genuine; fake; counterfeit: a phony diamond.
2.
false or deceiving; not truthful; concocted: a phony explanation.
3.
insincere or deceitful; affected or pretentious: a phony sales representative.
noun
4.
something that is phony; a counterfeit or fake.
5.
an insincere, pretentious, or deceitful person: He thought my friends were a bunch of phonies.
00:10
00:09
00:08
00:07
00:06
00:05
00:04
00:03
00:02
00:01
Phoniness
is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
verb (used with object)
6.
to falsify; counterfeit; fabricate (often followed by up): to phony up a document.
Also, phoney.
Origin:
1895–1900; perhaps alteration and respelling of fawney (slang) finger ring (< Irish fsptáinne), if taken to mean “false” in the phrase fawney rig a confidence game in which a brass ring is sold as a gold one
1895–1900; perhaps alteration and respelling of fawney (slang) finger ring (< Irish fsptáinne), if taken to mean “false” in the phrase fawney rig a confidence game in which a brass ring is sold as a gold one
Related forms
pho·ni·ly, adverb
pho·ni·ness, noun
Synonyms
4. fraud, imitation, hoax.
4. fraud, imitation, hoax.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
|
Link To phoniness
Collins
World English Dictionary
| phony (ˈfəʊnɪ) | |
| —adj, —n , pl -nies, -nier, -niest | |
| a variant spelling (esp US) of phoney | |
| 'phoniness | |
| —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
Cite This Source
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Word Dynamo By Dictionary.com
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
