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, counterfeit (also phoney), queer, sham, snide, spurious, unauthenticRelated Words artificial, factitious, imitation, man-made, mimic, mock, simulated, substitute, synthetic; dummy, nonfunctioning, ornamental; cultured, fabricated, manufactured; deceptive, delusive, misleadingNear Antonyms natural; actual, true, validAntonyms 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, artificial (also phoney), plastic, pretended, pseudo, put-on, sham, simulated, spurious, strained, unnaturalRelated 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, studiedNear Antonyms authentic, bona fide, real, realistic, right, true; honest, ingenuous, sincere, unpretending; easy, effortless, smooth; extemporaneous, impromptu, impulsive, instinctive, unconscious, unprompted, unrehearsed, unstudiedAntonyms 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, insincere (also phoney), phony-baloney (or phoney-baloney), pretended, two-faced, unctuousRelated 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-pureNear Antonyms direct, forthright, frank, heart-to-heart, open, plain, straightforwardAntonyms artless, candid, genuine, heartfelt, honest, sincere, undesigning, unfeigned