From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishphonypho‧ny /ˈfəʊni $ ˈfoʊ-/ adjectivex-refthe usualAmericanspelling of phoney► see thesaurus at falseExamples from the Corpusphony• 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"