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
Orlando Sentinel and New York Daily News Editorial Boards, Orlando Sentinel, 7 Jan. 2025
The outlet filed a Freedom of Information Act request and obtained a whopping 197 FTC complaints by people who’d been contacted by phony Depps.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 6 Jan. 2025
Katie Wiseman, The Indianapolis Star, 25 July 2024
His character, called The Passenger, is unpredictable, violent and has no patience for phonies, though there is an emotional key to his madness.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 11 July 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
As for the certification, the Democrats were not expected to stage phony objections, like too many in the GOP did the last time, falsely claiming voter fraud.
—Orlando Sentinel and New York Daily News Editorial Boards, Orlando Sentinel, 7 Jan. 2025
The outlet filed a Freedom of Information Act request and obtained a whopping 197 FTC complaints by people who’d been contacted by phony Depps.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 6 Jan. 2025
Noun
The comment was Vance's response after Beshear had previously called him a phony and not a Kentuckian and implied heavily that nepotism was the only reason Beshear is governor.
—Katie Wiseman, The Indianapolis Star, 25 July 2024
His character, called The Passenger, is unpredictable, violent and has no patience for phonies, though there is an emotional key to his madness.
—Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 11 July 2024
Verb
What constitutes the crime is to phony up business accounting records to disguise the payments.
—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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for phony
Adjective
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While fake kidnapping calls aimed at exploiting worried parents are a familiar tactic for some criminals, advancements in technology are making these scams far more convincing and harder to detect.Muri Assunção, New York Daily News, 12 Jan. 2025
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Fraudsters have devised sophisticated registration bots to mimic real users, coded to flood companies’ systems with fake OTPs.Ethan Stone, USA TODAY, 12 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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In a lawsuit filed against Fox News by Dominion Voting Systems, internal emails and text messages emerged that showed the unvarnished opinions of Tucker Carlson and other Fox personalities around Trump’s bogus claims that the 2020 election was stolen.Matt Hamilton, Los Angeles Times, 29 Dec. 2024
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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
Adjective
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Irsay joined his team in the locker room following Sunday’s win that, in the grand scheme of things, was meaningless.James Boyd, The Athletic, 6 Jan. 2025
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Why press your luck and play out a meaningless game?Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 5 Jan. 2025
Noun
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In a report released Wednesday, the office singled out 19 countries that raised concerns of possible movement of counterfeit or pirated drugs.Lauren Irwin, The Hill, 9 Jan. 2025
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After several investigative leads ended in dead-ends and counterfeits, a promising tip to the FBI prompted a sting operation that ended in agents recovering the fabled slippers in Minneapolis In July 2018.Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 7 Dec. 2024
Noun
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The 2018 election was widely considered a sham after his government banned major opposition parties from participating.Regina Garcia Cano, Los Angeles Times, 10 Jan. 2025
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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and others used this access to delegitimize every part of the proceeding, calling the trial a sham, questioning witnesses’ credibility, and accusing Merchan of bias.Richard Robbins, New York Daily News, 9 Jan. 2025
Verb
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As the event neared toward the end, Moore raised a glass, offering words of encouragement and empowerment as the women in attendance planned to forge ahead.Eden Harris, Essence, 6 Jan. 2025
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Adding to the settlers’ wariness, the idea of Israeli annexation was abruptly dumped by both Mr. Trump and Israel’s leaders in favor of forging diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, a process known as the Abraham Accords.Isabel Kershner, New York Times, 6 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Those who disputed the accuracy of an account and thought their report had been corrected instead see the same false information reappear without explanation, the agency found.Kate Gibson, CBS News, 7 Jan. 2025
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Users from a diverse range of perspectives would then reach an agreement on whether content is false, Kaplan said in a blog post.Queenie Wong, Los Angeles Times, 7 Jan. 2025
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 20 Jan. 2025.
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