phony• His outsiderimage, to start with, is phony.• Many such claims in the MiddleEast are phony.• On many other cuts, though, he goofs around in a self- deprecating way that actually seems phony.• There was, however, nothing phony about his powers of connoisseurship, and looking at pictures with him was fascinating.• Was the card a phony card?• a phony driver's license• a phonyItalianaccent• Was the number a phony number?• He has scheduled a phonyparliamentaryelection for October 15, and his own term expires next year.• People have been peddlingphony weight-loss elixirs since before the turn of the century.
Originphony
(1800-1900) Perhaps from fawney“brass ring used for deceiving people”((18-19 centuries)), from Irish Gaelicfáinne“ring”