adj. 1 unreal, fake, synthetic, artificial, factitious, false, fraudulent, imitation, bogus, spurious, counterfeit, mock, ersatz, paste, trumped up; sham, pretended, insincere, hypocritical, dissimulating, deceitful, dishonest; US also phony, Colloq pseudo or Brit pseud They were caught trying to collect insurance on the theft of a string of phoney pearls Every time she wanted something, she'd turn on the phoney charm.
n. 2 fake, fraud, imitation, counterfeit, forgery, hoax, sham, US also phony The diamond she's wearing is a phoney 3 trickster, faker, humbug, impostor, pretender, charlatan, mountebank, double-dealer, counterfeiter, quack, deceiver, US also phony, Colloq Brit pseud, Slang US paper-hanger Madame Tatiana claims to be able to communicate with the dead, but I think she's a phoney