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
-
Between theater games, fake-blood logistics and a Grim Reaper costume, the teens begin to deal with their secrets and the truth of one fateful night.—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
24 Apr. 2026
-
Police believe most of the ransom notes received were fake.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Stephon Castle and Deni Avdija received double techs for this sequence at the end of Spurs-Blazers Game 4.—
The Athletic NBA Staff,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
-
The first two Washington Nationals batters reached with a walk and a double in the third inning Saturday, giving the visitors runners on second and third with no outs.—
LaMond Pope,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Converting such a one-month jump to an annual rate is meaningless.—
Edward Lotterman,
Twin Cities,
19 Apr. 2026
-
Some experts said the conclusions were meaningless because the review swept under one umbrella drugs that had shown very dissimilar results and worked differently.—
Ed Silverman,
STAT,
16 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
During a federal raid on Loloee’s stores and homes in October 2023, agents found phony Social Security cards for 298 Viva Supermarket employees, the indictment said.—
Sharon Bernstein,
Sacbee.com,
21 Apr. 2026
-
Murgo alleged that both individuals gave police phony names and birthdays.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
20 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
How hypocritical that of me, Amy, and Gretchen, the only one married is me.—
David Sedaris,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
-
That’s not just awkward; that’s hypocritical.—
Mike Bianchi,
The Orlando Sentinel,
7 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Likewise, lip masks designed to be worn overnight can provide improved hydration and comfort over daytime treatments.—
Caroline Reilly,
Forbes.com,
25 Mar. 2026
-
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Tatianna points to cinnamon as a conductor of heat—one commonly used in lip plumper products to achieve a sultry pout.—
Essence,
Essence,
23 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Neuroscientists have found that these events at dendrites can allow even single neurons to perform complex computations — meaning that dendrites are the reason why a single neuron can have the same amount of computational power as a deep artificial neural network.—
Yasemin Saplakoglu,
Quanta Magazine,
24 Apr. 2026
-
For $150, a homebuyer in escrow can buy a report from the artificial-intelligence fueled HOASnapshot.—
Amancai Biraben,
Oc Register,
24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
However, the defense argued that the blood spatter evidence at the scene matched an accidental fall and that Kathleen's scalp lacerations were only superficial and didn't cause her death.—
Caroline Blair,
PEOPLE,
24 Apr. 2026
-
More often those concert performances help pump up a flashy, superficial look at an enigmatic artist whose closest connections were of the animal variety (Bubbles gets screen time; ditto a giraffe, a llama and a big snake).—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
23 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Phony-baloney.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phony-baloney. Accessed 28 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
