Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

pinchbeck

American  
[pinch-bek] / ˈpɪntʃ bɛk /

noun

  1. an alloy of copper and zinc, used in imitation of gold.

  2. something sham, spurious, or counterfeit.

adjective

  1. made of pinchbeck.

  2. sham, spurious, or counterfeit.

    pinchbeck heroism.
pinchbeck British  
/ ˈpɪntʃˌbɛk /

noun

  1. an alloy of copper and zinc, used as imitation gold

  2. a spurious or cheap imitation; sham

"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

adjective

  1. made of pinchbeck

  2. sham, spurious, or cheap

"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

Etymology

Origin of pinchbeck

1725–35; named after Christopher Pinchbeck (died 1732), English watchmaker and its inventor

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.