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Phony vs Scam - What's the difference?

phony | scam |

As nouns the difference between phony and scam

is that phony is a person who assumes an identity or quality other than their own while scam is fraudulent deal.

As an adjective phony

is fraudulent; fake; having a misleading appearance.

As a verb scam is

to defraud or embezzle.

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

    scam

    English

    Noun

    (wikipedia scam) (en noun)
  • Fraudulent deal.
    • That marketing scheme looks like a scam to me .

    Synonyms

    * con game * confidence trick * See also

    Verb

    (scamm)
  • To defraud or embezzle.
    • They tried to scam her out of her savings.

    Synonyms

    * (verb)

    Anagrams

    * * * * * *