phoniness
Hollow, insincere behavior
Phoniness is the quality of being fake, insincere, or artificial.
Someone accused of phoniness is putting on an act rather than being genuine: I couldn't stand the phoniness of his flattery.
The word carries strong disapproval—phoniness suggests not just pretense but a character flaw worth calling out.
Lack of genuine feeling
- disingenuousnessPretended ignorance or naivety
- two-facednessDeceitful pretense of friendship
- duplicityDeliberate misleading behavior
- sanctimonyFeigned moral superiority
cant · lip service · double standards · mealymouthed · tokenism · empty words · poseur · fraud
False outward appearance
- charadeAbsurd or obvious pretense
- masqueradeDeceptive act or costume party
- guiseExternal manner shown
- veneerDecorative outer layer
sham · pose · show · affectation · posturing · playacting · theatrics · make-believe
Intentional criminal trickery
- hoaxDeliberate deception for effect
- swindleDeception for financial gain
- scamDishonest money-making scheme
- conArgument against
dupery · imposture · chicanery · subterfuge · guile · deceit · flimflam · bamboozlement
Lack of genuineness
- artificialityState of being contrived
- counterfeitFraudulent imitation
- forgeryCreating fraudulent imitations
- imitationCopy of the original
ersatz · spuriousness · bogusness · fraudulence · inauthenticity · speciousness · hollowness · superficiality
insincerity
Lack of genuine feeling
- disingenuousnessPretended ignorance or naivety
- two-facednessDeceitful pretense of friendship
- duplicityDeliberate misleading behavior
sanctimony · cant · lip service · double standards · mealymouthed · tokenism · empty words · poseur · fraud · charlatan
façade
False outward appearance
- charadeAbsurd or obvious pretense
- masqueradeDeceptive act or costume party
- guiseExternal manner shown
veneer · sham · pose · show · affectation · posturing · playacting · theatrics · make-believe · bluff
fraud
Intentional criminal trickery
- hoaxDeliberate deception for effect
- swindleDeception for financial gain
- scamDishonest money-making scheme
con · dupery · imposture · chicanery · subterfuge · guile · deceit · flimflam · bamboozlement · hoodwinking
fakeness
Lack of genuineness
- artificialityState of being contrived
- counterfeitFraudulent imitation
- forgeryCreating fraudulent imitations
imitation · ersatz · spuriousness · bogusness · fraudulence · inauthenticity · speciousness · hollowness · superficiality · falsity
- deceptionlie, lies, lying, fake, fraud
- deceptionslie, lies, lying, deceit, decoy
- fakefake, bogus, sham, counterfeit, imitation
- insincerityinsincerity, fakeness, falseness, pretense, dissembling
- Social Pretensepretense, facade, affectation, insincerity, feigned interest
- turn-offsick, red flag, red flags, dealbreaker, dealbreakers
phoninessauthenticity
Quality of being genuine
genuineness · sincerity · realness · honesty · truthfulness
phoninesssubstance
Physical material with mass
legitimacy · validity · genuineness · the real thing · bona fides
phoninessintegrity
Moral soundness and consistency
genuineness · trustworthiness · reliability · consistency · probity
phony, telephone, microphone, megaphone, phonic, phoneme, phonics, telephony, phonies