phony

not honest, not real, fake

TRANSLATION

falsch, unecht; die Fälschung

STATISTICS

IN THE PRESS

"There are still plenty of Chinese firms copying foreign products and dumping them (with PHONY brand names, like Sone) in Asian countries."

(Newsweek Magazine "The spread of China Inc." Sep. 3, 2001)

Did you
know?

phony (also phoney) US English


Not genuine or real: as a (1) : intended to deceive or mislead (2) : intended to defraud :

Date: 1900

Synonyms:

affected, artificial, assumed, bastard, bogus, counterfeit, fake, forged, imitation, phoney, pseudo, put-on, sham, spurious, trick

- pho.ni.ly adverb

- pho.ni.ness noun

Anecdote:

Michael Jackson once complained about the publication of a story concerning his health, and accompanied by photographs of Jackson supposedly in an oxygen tent. The source of the PHONEY item? Michael Jackson! The singer had himself posed for the photos and given the reporter exclusive rights to sell the piece.

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