variants
also phoney
1
as in fake
being such in appearance only and made or manufactured with the intention of committing fraud
a phony watch with a designer logo
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in bogus
lacking in natural or spontaneous quality
she always has this phony smile just before she betrays you
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in meaningless
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 & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
variants
also phoney
1
as in counterfeit
an imitation that is passed off as genuine
the fancy "emerald" ring turned out to be a phony
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sham
one who makes false claims of identity or expertise
the person who performed the liposuction operation was later discovered to be a phony
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to fake
to imitate or copy especially in order to deceive
the terrorists were able to move around the country using phonied driver's licenses
Synonyms & Similar Words
Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of phony
Steve Weisman, Forbes, 27 Nov. 2024
Oxford police responded to the bank on Friday around 3:40 p.m. on the report of someone using a phony ID to access a customer’s account information, according to Connecticut State Police.
—Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 26 Nov. 2024
Washington Post, 21 June 2024
The Greek absurdist filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos is a phony.
—Armond White, National Review, 21 June 2024
New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 22 Apr. 2024
In fact, legislators and regulators are rolling back regulations designed to protect investors, who in this case are estimated to have lost $100 billion to phony Chinese firms.
—Gary Thompson, Philly.com, 29 Mar. 2018
See all Example Sentences for phony 
Adjective
The scammers use social media such as Facebook and Instagram to market their phony products as well as a variety of online marketplaces and fake retail websites.
—Noun
Sadly, calling Bryson DeChambeau a world-class phony doesn’t make any of this better, or more comprehensible.
—Verb
What constitutes the crime is to phony up business accounting records to disguise the payments.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for phony
Adjective
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The claim: Image shows UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting suspect’s fake ID A Dec. 9 Threads post (direct link, archive link) shows an image of what at first glance appears to be a Hawaii driver’s license with a photo of the man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.Joedy McCreary, USA TODAY, 13 Dec. 2024
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The porch is covered in fake roses, from its pillars to ceiling to gable, where Cantabrana places a small Guadalupe statue in its apex.Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Similarly, in 2015, Avon Products saw its stock surge by 20% after scammers filed a bogus SEC document claiming a takeover bid by a nonexistent firm.Yasin Dus, Forbes, 20 Dec. 2024
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Results like that -50 could lead computers to churn out bogus data or shut down entirely.Zachary Loeb / Made by History, TIME, 18 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Otherwise the right to a clean and healthful environment is meaningless.Benedict Cosgrove, Newsweek, 19 Dec. 2024
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But too little would render the action essentially meaningless.Gayoung Lee, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Dec. 2024
Noun
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The National Crime Prevention Council believes counterfeiting is an even bigger problem, pegging counterfeits as a $2 trillion business at the end of 2023.Adriana Lee, WWD, 26 Nov. 2024
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Haotian Sun and Pengfei Xue exploited Apple's iPhone repair process by sending more than 6,000 counterfeit phones to the manufacturer that couldn't be repaired, in order to induce the company to replace the counterfeits with genuine iPhones, federal prosecutors said this week.Krystal Nurse, USA TODAY, 5 Oct. 2024
Noun
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One group acted as a control (no balloon), one as a sham (the balloon was uninflated), and the third was the treatment group (inflated device).New Atlas, New Atlas, 8 Dec. 2024
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These are the pillows, blankets, shams, duvet covers, and more that make their nights better.Cortne Bonilla, Vogue, 19 Nov. 2024
Verb
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The lines on the pages have blurred, with themes from across literature forging new kinds of fantasies and fiction that attract book lovers and occasional readers alike.Nicole Fallert, USA TODAY, 19 Dec. 2024
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Ving Rhames plays against type as Holiday Heart, a gay drag queen who forges a bond with a single mother (Alfre Woodard) and her young daughter (Jesika Reynolds).Cydney Lee and Kevin Jacobsen Published, EW.com, 18 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Nashville) Letter:Trump's false claims on pet-eating scared me into hiding my cat.David Plazas, The Tennessean, 20 Dec. 2024
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That followed a pattern seen in CBS News analysis of his posts during the campaign season, when Musk frequently shared false narratives about the election and amplified extreme voices from the right-wing fringe to his millions of followers.CBS News, CBS News, 19 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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This could certainly change if the Rockets land a certain French teenager in this year's draft lottery, but the first half of 2022-23 has assuaged some concerns about the long-term viability of a pseudo-twin-towers in the starting lineup with Jabari Smith flanked by Alperen Şengün.Michael Shapiro, Chron, 15 Jan. 2023
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In a code division scheme, each call is encoded in a random or pseudo-random sequencing, and receivers at the other end are equipped to decode their own calls.IEEE Spectrum, IEEE Spectrum, 27 Apr. 2021
Thesaurus Entries Near phony
Cite this Entry
“Phony.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phony. Accessed 24 Dec. 2024.
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