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Spurious vs Phony - What's the difference?

spurious | phony |

As adjectives the difference between spurious and phony

is that spurious is false, not authentic, not genuine while 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.

spurious

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • false, not authentic, not genuine
  • * 2013 , Russell Brand, Russell Brand and the GQ awards: 'It's amazing how absurd it seems''' (in ''The Guardian , 13 September 2013)[http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2013/sep/13/russell-brand-gq-awards-hugo-boss]
    • We witness that there is a relationship between government, media and industry that is evident even at this most spurious and superficial level. These three institutions support one another. We know that however cool a media outlet may purport to be, their primary loyalty is to their corporate backers. We know also that you cannot criticise the corporate backers openly without censorship and subsequent manipulation of this information.
  • (archaic) bastardly, illegitimate
  • * Milton
    • her spurious firstborn

    Synonyms

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

    Antonyms

    * (false) genuine, representative

    Derived terms

    * spuriously * spuriousness

    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