phoney
/ˈfoʊni/
adjective
- Not genuine or real; fake or false.
- Her phoney smile made it clear she wasn't really happy to see us.
- He gave a phoney excuse for being late, but no one believed him.
- The painting was a phoney copy of a famous masterpiece, worth only a few dollars.
noun
- A person who is not sincere or who pretends to be something they are not.
- She realized her new friend was a phoney when he claimed to be a doctor but couldn't answer basic medical questions.
- Don't trust him; he's a phoney who only cares about his own image.
- The magazine exposed the psychic as a phoney who used simple tricks to fool people.