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Definition of phony - 6 dictionary results

pho⋅ny

  [foh-nee] adjective, -ni⋅er, -ni⋅est, noun, plural -nies, verb, -nied, -ny⋅ing.
Use phony in a Sentence
–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.
–verb (used with object)
6. to falsify; counterfeit; fabricate (often fol. by up): to phony up a document.
Also, phoney.

Origin:
1895–1900; perh. alter. and resp. of fawney (slang) finger ring (< Ir 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.

-phony

 
a combining form used in the formation of abstract nouns corresponding to nouns ending in -phone: telephony.
Origin:
< Gk -phōnia; see -phone, -y 3
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To phony
pho·ny also pho·ney   (fō'nē)   
adj.   pho·ni·er, pho·ni·est

    1. Not genuine or real; counterfeit: a phony credit card.

    2. False; spurious: a phony name.

    3. Insincere or hypocritical.

    4. Giving a false impression of truth or authenticity; specious.

  2. Not honest or truthful; deceptive: a phony excuse.

    1. Insincere or hypocritical.

    2. Giving a false impression of truth or authenticity; specious.

n.   pl. pho·nies also pho·neys

  1. Something not genuine; a fake.

    1. One who is insincere or pretentious.

    2. An impostor; a hypocrite.


[Alteration of fawney, gilt brass ring used by swindlers, from Irish Gaelic fáinne, ring, from Old Irish.]
pho'ni·ly adv., pho'ni·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
phony

  1. mod.
    bogus; fake. : This money looks phony to me.
  2. n.
    someone or something bogus. : Look here, you phony, get out of my office!
  3. n.
    a phone call where the caller hangs up the minute the telephone is answered. : No one was on the telephone. It was just a phony.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

phony  (adj.)
"not genuine," 1900, phoney, perhaps an alteration of fawney "gilt brass ring used by swindlers" (1781), from Ir. fainne "ring." The noun meaning "phony person or thing" is attested from 1902.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

-phony suff.
Sound: microphony.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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