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Phony vs Phonily - What's the difference?

phony | phonily |

As an adjective phony

is fraudulent; fake; having a misleading appearance.

As a noun phony

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

As an adverb phonily is

in a phony way, or to a phony extent.

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

    phonily

    English

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • In a phony way, or to a phony extent
  • * {{quote-news, year=1988, date=December 23, author=Gary Houston, title=The Beginning of the End, work=Chicago Reader citation
    • , passage=Or in the 70s without its being a case in point that our need for nostalgia had, after the coming and going of scads of phonily rustic eateries, really reached absurd proportions. }}

    Related terms

    * phoniness