counterfeit
adjective
\
Definition of counterfeit
(Entry 1 of 3)
counterfeit
verbDefinition of counterfeit (Entry 2 of 3)
counterfeit
nounDefinition of counterfeit (Entry 3 of 3)
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Synonyms & Antonyms for counterfeit
Synonyms: Adjective
bogus, fake, false, forged, inauthentic, phony (also phoney), queer, sham, snide, spurious, unauthentic
Synonyms: Verb
Synonyms: Noun
fake, forgery, hoax, humbug, phony (also phoney), sham
Antonyms: Adjective
authentic, bona fide, genuine, real, unfaked
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Examples of counterfeit in a Sentence
Adjective
The concert ticket is counterfeit. counterfeit currency that had been passed all over townVerb
They were counterfeiting money in his garage. an expert at counterfeiting moneyNoun
the will as well as the other documents turned out to be counterfeits
Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
Earlier this year, the White House published research estimating an annual cost of between $250 billion and $600 billion to the U.S. economy from China’s counterfeit goods, pirated software and theft of trade secrets. — John D. Stoll, WSJ, "Trump’s Tough China Tack Wins Over Skeptical CEOs," 8 Dec. 2018 An analogy is the approach taken by software programs like Adobe Photoshop to prevent people from creating counterfeit currency. — German Lopez, Vox, "The battle to stop 3D-printed guns, explained," 1 Aug. 2018 The Union also flooded the market with counterfeit Confederate currency, and at the end of the war, the bills lost all value. — Marlena Scott, Teen Vogue, "The Complete History of Money in America, From Pelts to Pennies," 13 Apr. 2018 Forgery An employee of a business in the 1400 block of Waukegan Road told police March 31 that someone used counterfeit currency to make a purchase. — Alexandra Kukulka, chicagotribune.com, "Police: Someone entered Glenview home, stole $7,500 in jewelry," 9 Apr. 2018 Gladden and Meyer were booked at the South Placer jail on charges of possession of counterfeit currency, burglary and conspiracy. — Barbara Harvey, sacbee, "They had counterfeit $100 bills in their car – and kept their receipts, Lincoln police say | The Sacramento Bee," 31 Mar. 2018 To prevent people from generating counterfeit currency, the math required to verify a transaction takes so much computing power that no one user or group could do it. — Alexander George, Popular Mechanics, "So You Want To Get Started in Cryptocurrency," 13 Mar. 2018 In July 2016, the Drug Enforcement Administration issued a report indicating hundreds of thousands of counterfeit prescription pills have been entering the market since 2014, with some containing deadly amounts of fentanyl. — Alexandria Hein, Fox News, "China's fentanyl exports targeted in bipartisan opioid bill," 24 Sep. 2018 Undine sees that her values are counterfeit and is transformed by stages into a poorer but wiser woman. — Terry Teachout, WSJ, "‘Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine’ Review: A Nottage Revival," 27 Dec. 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Not only does fake traffic defraud advertisers, but ads that are served to counterfeit sites rather than legitimate ones deprive publishers and other sites of ad revenue. — Suzanne Vranica, WSJ, "U.S. Charges Eight With Online-Ad Fraud," 27 Nov. 2018 Such violations, from counterfeiting famous brands and stealing trade secrets to pressuring companies to share technology with Chinese companies to gain access to China’s vast market, have long angered China’s overseas competitors. — Bloomberg.com, "What’s Intellectual Property and Does China Steal It?," 22 Mar. 2018 It is known in the West for counterfeiting money, human rights horrors, cyberattacks and crazy-sounding threats. — Bob Drogin, latimes.com, "Here's what you need to know about the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore," 10 June 2018 Eight states—Alaska, Arizona, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas—have their own laws governing the sale of fake and counterfeited Native American objects. — Daniel Grant, WSJ, "What You Need to Know About Buying Native-American Art," 8 June 2018 AP Burberry is firing legal charges at Target for allegedly counterfeiting its iconic check plaid pattern and confusing consumers in a multi-million dollar fashion knockoff sales campaign. — Kevin Mccoy, USA TODAY, "Burberry lawsuit accuses Target of copying its iconic check plaid pattern," 11 May 2018 Why does counterfeit money represent a threat to the nation? — Dave Barry, miamiherald, "Classic '98: Funny money," 3 June 2018 So Wun Pak appeared in Johnson County District Court Thursday and pleaded no contest to the felony charge of counterfeiting merchandise worth from $1,000 to $25,000. — Tony Rizzo, kansascity, "Prada, Kate Spade goods in Mission store were fake; owner convicted," 31 May 2018 And Pokora had gradually become enmeshed in a series of schemes that would have alarmed his younger self: infiltrating game developers’ networks, counterfeiting an Xbox prototype, even abetting a burglary on Microsoft’s main campus. — Brendan I. Koerner, WIRED, "The Young and the Reckless," 17 Apr. 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
The nerve agent used to poison the Skripals was smuggled to Britain in a counterfeit Nina Ricci perfume bottle and applied to the front door of their house, according to Metropolitan Police. — Ryan Gaydos, Fox News, "Two Russians deny involvement in UK Novichok poisoning: 'We went there to see Stonehenge'," 13 Sep. 2018 Many academics argue the portrait of Alexander Hamilton, the star of our $10 bills, is a counterfeit. — Mark Kennedy, The Seattle Times, "Historians irked by musical ‘Hamilton’ escalate their duel," 4 Feb. 2019 Alcohol makers or their distributors are typically required to have the labels of their products approved by local authorities, to help track sales or recalls, and to keep counterfeits or knockoffs from the market. — BostonGlobe.com, "Baker signs bill authorizing $1.8b in program funding," 1 June 2018 Earlier this year, researchers documented several underground services that sold counterfeit signing credentials that are unique to each buyer. — Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, "Stolen certificates from D-Link used to sign password-stealing malware," 10 July 2018 My currency was no good with them, counterfeit from the start. — Christine Sneed, New York Times, "She’s Here, She’s Queer, She’s Figuring Out What That Means," 11 Apr. 2018 Washington's charity, The Sixth Man Foundation, while operating as Project Contact Africa, used eBay and a PayPal account to facilitate more than $12 million in payments for items that included counterfeit software. — Aaron Randle, kansascity, "Former NBA player sentenced in Kansas City to federal prison for fraud, identity theft," 9 July 2018 The items, which ICE finished tallying on Tuesday, constituted the biggest counterfeit seizure for ICE’s Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) in the area. — Matt Richardson, Fox News, "ICE says it seized $43M worth of counterfeit items in Laredo, Texas," 6 July 2018 Cobb County police found several counterfeit items inside the home located in the 2500 block of Gordon Circle. — Raisa Habersham, ajc, "Man charged after fake money, IDs, credits cards found in Cobb home," 25 May 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'counterfeit.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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From the Editors at Merriam-Webster
11 Obscure Words for Thieves
11 Obscure Words for Thieves
Yeggs, jackrollers, footpads, and more
Dictionary Entries near counterfeit
Statistics for counterfeit
Last Updated
31 Jan 2019
Look-up Popularity
Time Traveler for counterfeit
The first known use of counterfeit was in the 14th century
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More Definitions for counterfeit
counterfeit
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of counterfeit
(Entry 1 of 3)
counterfeit
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of counterfeit (Entry 2 of 3)
counterfeit
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of counterfeit (Entry 3 of 3)
See the full definition for counterfeit in the English Language Learners Dictionary
counterfeit
adjective
\
Kids Definition of counterfeit
(Entry 1 of 3)
counterfeit
verbKids Definition of counterfeit (Entry 2 of 3)
counterfeit
nounKids Definition of counterfeit (Entry 3 of 3)
counterfeit
adjective
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Legal Definition of counterfeit
(Entry 1 of 3)
counterfeit
transitive verbLegal Definition of counterfeit (Entry 2 of 3)
counterfeit
nounLegal Definition of counterfeit (Entry 3 of 3)
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