phony

Etymology

Of unknown origin. Perhaps an alteration of fawny (“gilt brass ring used by swindlers”) (1781), from Irish fáinne (“ring”).

adj

1. (informal) Fraudulent; fake; having a misleading appearance.
   A good jeweler should be able to tell a real stone from a phony one.

noun

1. (informal) A person who assumes an identity or quality other than their own.
   He claims to be a doctor, but he's nothing but a fast-talking phony.
2. (informal) A person who professes beliefs or opinions that they do not hold.
   He's such a phony, he doesn't believe half of what he says.
3. (informal) Anything fraudulent or fake.
   One name was a phony, but the other was the true name. The clerk remembered the man who had filed the tags since he acquired two sets of plates with different names. 2013, John E. Douglas, Ann W. Burgess, Allen G. Burgess, Crime Classification Manual, page 131

verb

1. (informal) To fake.