phony

phony

adjective

Definition of PHONY

1

being such in appearance only and made or manufactured with the intention of committing fraud <a phony watch with a designer logo>

Synonyms bogus, fake, false, forged, inauthentic, phony (also phoney), queer, sham, snide, spurious, unauthentic

Related Words artificial, factitious, imitation, man-made, mimic, mock, simulated, substitute, synthetic; dummy, nonfunctioning, ornamental; cultured, fabricated, manufactured; deceptive, delusive, misleading

Near Antonyms natural; actual, true, valid

Antonyms authentic, bona fide, genuine, real, unfaked

2

lacking in natural or spontaneous quality <she always has this phony smile just before she betrays you>

Synonyms affected, assumed, bogus, contrived, factitious, fake, false, feigned, forced, mechanical, mock, phony (also phoney), plastic, pretended, pseudo, put-on, sham, simulated, spurious, strained, unnatural

Related Words automatic, canned, concocted, fabricated, hokey, labored, manufactured, pat, unauthentic, unreal, unrealistic; double-dealing, empty, facile, hollow, hypocritical, insincere, left-handed, mealy, mealymouthed, two-faced, unctuous; exaggerated, histrionic, melodramatic, overacted, overdone, theatrical (also theatric); cute, cutesy, genteel, goody-goody, mincing, overrefined, simpering; conventional, formal, impersonal, inflexible, rigid, stiff, stylized, wooden; artful, calculated, conscious, cultivated, deliberate, premeditated, studied

Near Antonyms authentic, bona fide, real, realistic, right, true; honest, ingenuous, sincere, unpretending; easy, effortless, smooth; extemporaneous, impromptu, impulsive, instinctive, unconscious, unprompted, unrehearsed, unstudied

Antonyms artless, genuine, natural, spontaneous, unaffected, uncontrived, unfeigned, unforced

3

not being or expressing what one appears to be or express <her concern for our welfare is as phony as all get-out—she just wants to know our business>

Synonyms artificial, backhanded, counterfeit, double, double-dealing, double-faced, fake, feigned, hypocritical, Janus-faced, jive [slang], left-handed, lip, mealy, mealymouthed, Pecksniffian, phony (also phoney), phony-baloney (or phoney-baloney), pretended, two-faced, unctuous

Related Words affected, assumed, claptrap, contrived, forced, mechanical, put-on, simulated, strained, unnatural; empty, hollow, meaningless; deceitful, devious, dishonest, false, untruthful; facile, glib, superficial; bogus, sham; campy, facetious, jocular, tongue-in-cheek; canting, pharisaical, pious, sanctimonious, self-righteous, simon-pure

Near Antonyms direct, forthright, frank, heart-to-heart, open, plain, straightforward

Antonyms artless, candid, genuine, heartfelt, honest, sincere, undesigning, unfeigned

Variants of PHONY

phony also phoney