bogus

adjective

bo·​gus ˈbō-gəs How to pronounce bogus (audio)
: not genuine : counterfeit, sham
a bogus claim
The evidence was completely bogus.
bogusly adverb
bogusness noun

Did you know?

Bogus Has a Long History

In her 1840 novel A New Home—Who’ll Follow?, author Carolina Kirkland wrote about a scandal affecting the fictitious frontier town of Tinkerville, whose bank vaults were discovered to contain “a heavy charge of broken glass and tenpenny nails, covered above and below with half-dollars, principally ‘bogus.’ Alas! for Tinkerville, and alas, for poor Michigan!” Alas indeed. Bogus (an apparent U.S. coinage) was first used in the argot of wildcat banks (like the one in Tinkerville) as a noun referring to counterfeit money. It later branched out into adjective use meaning “counterfeit or forged.” Although the noun is now obsolete, the adjective is still used today with the same meaning, and is applied not only to phony currency but to anything that is less than genuine, making it part of a treasury of similar words ranging from the very old (sham) to the fairly new (fugazi).

Examples of bogus in a Sentence

It was just a bogus claim. The evidence was completely bogus.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
That same day, a correspondent arrested in Azerbaijan while working for one of those sister networks — Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — was sentenced to nine years in prison on charges his bosses consider bogus. David Folkenflik, NPR, 21 June 2025 These access points, which operated a lot like the bogus JFK-Free-WiFi access point, captured personal data from unsuspecting victims who mistakenly connected to them, according to police. Christopher Elliott, Forbes.com, 21 June 2025 Chavez previously ran a ketamine clinic and allegedly submitted a bogus prescription in the name of a former patient to secure the drug. Tracy Wright, FOXNews.com, 16 June 2025 Chapman was accused of helping Kelly and five other members in a South Florida ring with their bogus PPP loan applications, leading to disbursements of hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2021 by private lenders backed by the SBA. Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 16 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for bogus

Word History

Etymology

obsolete argot bogus counterfeit money

First Known Use

1825, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bogus was in 1825

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Cite this Entry

“Bogus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bogus. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.

Kids Definition

bogus

adjective
bo·​gus ˈbō-gəs How to pronounce bogus (audio)
: not genuine : counterfeit, sham

More from Merriam-Webster on bogus

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