Cambridge Dictionaries online Cambridge Dictionaries online

The most popular online dictionary and thesaurus for learners of English

  

phoney

adjective (phonier, phoniest) informal disapproving (US also phony)
 
 
/ˈfəʊ.ni/ US  /ˈfoʊ-/

Definition

not sincere or not real: All salespeople seem to have the same phoney smile. He gave the police a phoney address.Affected and insincereFaking and pretending phoney
 
 
noun [C]
I don't trust him - I think he's a phoney.Affected and insincereFaking and pretending
(Definition of phoney adjective from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

“phoney” in other dictionaries

More Results for “phoney”

Word of the Day

everything under the sun

everything that exists or is possible

Word of the Day

Blog

Read our blog about how the English language behaves.

Learn More

New Words

Find words and meanings that have just started to be used in English, and let us know what you think of them.

Learn More