fake
Noun pluralfakes
Pluralfakes
- 1Made to look real, but actually false or copied.
Like a toy that looks like a real phone but cannot make calls.
She bought a fake watch that looked just like the real one.
The painting turned out to be fake.
UsageUse it before a noun or after be: a fake diamond, the diamond is fake.
Similarcounterfeit, forged, false, fraudulent, bogus
Note
- 2To pretend to have a feeling or condition that you do not really have.
Like pretending to be asleep when someone checks on you.
He tried to fake a smile, but everyone could see he was upset.
She faked an illness to stay home from school.
UsageSay fake a smile or fake being sick.
Similarfeign, simulate, affect, pretend
Note
- 3An object that is not real but is made to look real.
Like a copy of a famous painting that someone tries to sell as the real one.
The expert said the vase was a fake.
He sold cheap fakes to tourists at the market.
UsageSay it's a fake.
Similarforgery, counterfeit, fraud, imitation, copy
Oppositeoriginal
Note
- 4Not sincere, and pretending to be friendly or kind without really meaning it.
Like a friend who smiles to your face but says bad things behind your back.
I think he is fake because he only acts nice when the boss is watching.
Do not trust him. He is fake and talks badly about his friends.
UsageSay she's so fake about an insincere person.
Similarinsincere, phony, false, artificial, hypocritical
- 5To make a false copy of something, or change it dishonestly, so people think it is real.
Like printing money that is not really worth anything.
Someone tried to fake the company's logo on cheap shirts.
He faked the documents to get the loan.
UsageSay fake a signature.
Similarforge, counterfeit, falsify, fabricate, doctor
- 6A quick move in sports that tricks another player into going the wrong way.
Like pretending to throw a ball one way so the other person looks there, then throwing it the other way.
He scored after a quick fake left the defender behind.
Her clever fakes made it hard for anyone to guard her.
Similarfeint, dummy, juke, deke
Note
Less common meanings
- 7In jazz, to make up music as you play instead of reading it.
Like making up a story as you go instead of reading one from a book.
When he forgot the tune, he just had to fake it.
If you don't know the melody, you can fake the solo.
UsageSay fake it when you play without the music.
Similarimprovise, ad-lib, busk
Note
- 8A trick used to cheat someone out of money or goods.
Note
- 9To cheat or rob someone, often by tricking them.
Note
- 10To lay out a rope in zigzag loops so it does not twist as it runs out.
- 11A single loop or turn of a rope as it lies in a coil.
Showing meanings only.
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Origin
Its origin is not certain. It was used in British criminal slang by the 1810s, and it probably comes from an older word meaning to spruce up or make something look better.