variants
or phoney-baloney
as in fake
not being or expressing what one appears to be or express
if you believe the company's phony-baloney press releases, it's in business solely for the benefit of mankind
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of phony-baloney
Namely, their own phony-baloney, six-figure jobs.
—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
20 Dec. 2025
The script is by David Koepp (writer of the best Mission: Impossible, the 1996 Brian De Palma iteration), and it’s filled with shimmery red herrings and liberal lashings of phony-baloney techno-spy stuff.
—
Stephanie Zacharek,
TIME,
6 Mar. 2025
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
20 Dec. 2025
The script is by David Koepp (writer of the best Mission: Impossible, the 1996 Brian De Palma iteration), and it’s filled with shimmery red herrings and liberal lashings of phony-baloney techno-spy stuff.
—
Stephanie Zacharek,
TIME,
6 Mar. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for phony-baloney
Adjective
-
First was a Drug Enforcement Administration badge and ID with Horsch’s photo on it, but the ID was fake, and Horsch has never worked for the DEA, according to court documents.
-
This game preserves the difficulty of coming up with an elaborate, consistent false narrative on the spot, and the challenge of adapting that narrative on the fly when other players present convincing (and sometimes fake) counter-evidence.
Adjective
-
And that put him in position to score easily on Tommy Edman’s double to the center-field warning track for the first run of the game.
-
Geraldo Perdomo, on second base after a one-out double, raced home trying to score on Corbin Carroll’s single to right.
Adjective
-
Relatively meaningless but still badass.
-
At its core, unlike those meaningless marketing terms, ‘regenerative,’ when used responsibly, is legitimately full of deep meaning and has the potential to make significant human and environmental change when adopted at scale.
Adjective
-
In the cases before the Supreme Court as well as the wage case before Hall, there is no suggestion that lawyers intentionally buttressed arguments with phony precedents in order to win an unfair advantage.
-
To overcome that hurdle, authorities said, Finkelstein submitted phony diagnoses of conditions, such as hypertension, that the athletes did not have.
Adjective
-
Or means that any comments are supposedly hypocritical.
-
Earlier this month, Matsui’s campaign came after Vang for taking corporate donations from Sacramento-area businesses during her city council campaigns, implying that Vang’s vows to not accept money from corporate PACs in her congressional bid is hypocritical.
Adjective
-
The West should also stop drawing artificial distinctions that favor Russian escalation management over Ukrainian survival.
-
Instead of using artificial colors, look for ingredients that naturally fit the bill.
Adjective
-
But the similarity is superficial.
-
Its engagement is merely superficial.
Cite this Entry
“Phony-baloney.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phony-baloney. Accessed 1 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
