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Synonyms

bogus

American  
[boh-guhs] / ˈboʊ gəs /

adjective

  1. not genuine; counterfeit; spurious; sham.

    Synonyms:
    phony , fake , pseudo , fraudulent

noun

  1. Printing, Journalism.  matter set, by union requirement, by a compositor and later discarded, duplicating the text of an advertisement for which a plate has been supplied or type set by another publisher.

bogus British  
/ ˈbəʊɡəs /

adjective

  1. spurious or counterfeit; not genuine

    a bogus note
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • bogusly adverb
  • bogusness noun

Etymology

Origin of bogus

1825–30, originally an apparatus for coining false money; perhaps akin to bogy 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Downing Street insiders suggest it's bogus to suggest the new focus on child poverty means they're not interested in helping business grow any more.

From BBC

As a result, some victims report a constant level of uncertainty and anxiety in the wake of a breach: What if today is the day my data is used in a bogus transaction?

From The Wall Street Journal

The BBC discovered that at least 12 homes on Mr Harrison and Ms Heaton's street had been targeted with bogus accounts, set up on the same day in common Hungarian names.

From BBC

This is a completely bogus line of reasoning.

From MarketWatch

Fraud targeting hauliers - including criminals using bogus haulage companies - is on the rise in the UK, according to the police's National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.