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Bogus Has a Long History
In the early 19th century, a "bogus" was a machine used to make counterfeit coins. No one knows for sure how this coin-copying contraption got its name, but before long bogus became a name for funny money or for a fraudulent imitation of any kind. The more common "phony" adjective followed.
Synonyms
Examples of bogus in a Sentence
Jay Adkisson, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
In a marathon trial that lasted off and on from June to November, the State Bar, which regulates lawyers in California, argued that Eastman was unfit to practice law for peddling bogus claims that fraud cost Trump the election and for promoting a fake-elector scheme to block the electoral count.
—Christopher Goffard, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2024
The public should be skeptical and not rush to accept these bogus allegations.
—Jack Irvin, Peoplemag, 26 Mar. 2024
Collusion between Trump and Putin in the form of, say, a bogus peace pledge would therefore make perfect political sense.
—Benn Steil, Foreign Affairs, 19 Mar. 2024
Richer’s work seems necessary, as Arizona has been ground zero for election conspiracists ever since the 2020 election when the bogus recount run by Cyber Ninjas found that President Joe Biden did actually win.
—David Gilbert, WIRED, 19 Mar. 2024
But Johnson quickly concluded that the claims were impossible to prove, if not demonstrably bogus.
—David D. Kirkpatrick, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2024
In the early 2000s, the U.S. declassified what turned out to be bogus intelligence about Saddam Hussein’s weapons-of-mass-destruction program to justify the invasion of Iraq.
—TIME, 29 Feb. 2024
Two directors — one florid, one discrete — typified Paramount in peak form: the authentically Viennese but bogus aristocrat Josef von Sternberg and the brilliant comedian of manners, Ernst Lubitsch.
—Thomas Doherty, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bogus.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
obsolete argot bogus counterfeit money
1825, in the meaning defined above
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Cite this Entry
“Bogus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bogus. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
bogus
adjective
More from Merriam-Webster on bogus
Nglish: Translation of bogus for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of bogus for Arabic Speakers
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