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Phony vs Deceptive - What's the difference?

phony | deceptive |

As adjectives the difference between phony and deceptive

is that phony is fraudulent; fake; having a misleading appearance while deceptive is misleading, likely or attempting to deceive.

As a noun phony

is a person who assumes an identity or quality other than their own.

phony

English

Alternative forms

* phoney

Adjective

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

    Synonyms

    * (fraudulent) bogus, counterfeit, fake * See also

    Antonyms

    * authentic * genuine

    Derived terms

    * phoniness * phoneyness

    Noun

    (phonies)
  • 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 .
  • 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.

    Synonyms

    * (faker) dissembler, pretender, fake, faker

    Derived terms

    * phony up, phoney up * Phony War, Phoney War

    deceptive

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • misleading, likely or attempting to deceive
    • deceptive advertising
    deceptive practices
  • * Trench
    • language altogether deceptive , and hiding the deeper reality from our eyes

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * deceptive advertising * deceptive cadence * deceptive cognate

    Related terms

    * deception * deceptively * deceive * deceit