# fake

Pronunciation: say "FAYK" /feɪ̯k/

## Adjective

1. Not genuine; made or presented to deceive, as something false or fraudulent.
   - Simple: Made to look real, but actually false or copied.
   - _Investigators discovered that the signature on the contract was fake._
   - _The market was full of fake designer handbags sold as authentic._
4. Of a person: insincere, putting on feelings or friendliness that are not genuine.
   - Simple: Not sincere, and pretending to be friendly or kind without really meaning it.
   - _Don't be fooled by how nice she is to your face; she's totally fake._
   - _He came across as fake, agreeing with whatever the crowd wanted to hear._

## Verb

2. To put on a false display of something; to feign or simulate a feeling or state.
   - Simple: To pretend to have a feeling or condition that you do not really have.
   - _The actor learned to fake tears on cue for the emotional scenes._
   - _He faked surprise when they brought out the cake, though he already knew._
5. To make a counterfeit of something, or to alter it fraudulently so that it seems genuine or better than it is; to forge or falsify.
   - Simple: To make a false copy of something, or change it dishonestly, so people think it is real.
   - _The gang learned to fake passports good enough to fool border agents._
   - _She faked the test results to hide the experiment's failure._
7. In jazz, to improvise, making up a part on the spot rather than playing it as written.
   - Simple: In jazz, to make up music as you play instead of reading it.
   - _When the band started a tune she had never heard, the young pianist had to fake her part, and nobody noticed._
   - _He faked his way through the bridge until the melody came back to him._

## Noun

3. An item that is not genuine, or that is passed off as something it is not.
   - Simple: An object that is not real but is made to look real.
   - _The auction house withdrew the painting after experts declared it a fake._
   - _Collectors learned to spot fakes by examining the brushwork closely._
6. In sports, a deceptive move used to mislead an opponent and gain an advantage, such as when dribbling past a defender.
   - Simple: A quick move in sports that tricks another player into going the wrong way.
   - _The point guard sold the fake so well that two defenders lunged the wrong way._
   - _A well-timed fake can open up the whole court._

## Noun

8. A trick or swindle; a scheme meant to cheat someone. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A trick used to cheat someone out of money or goods.

## Verb

9. To cheat, swindle, steal, or rob; to defraud someone of money or goods. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To cheat or rob someone, often by tricking them.

## Other meanings

- (verb) To coil a rope or hawser by winding it in alternating directions, in zigzag or figure-eight layers, so it pays out without twisting.
- (noun) A single loop, turn, or winding of a cable or hawser as it lies coiled.

## Origin

The origin is uncertain. A letter of 1775, printed in 1905 with the words "fake Pilots," may be the earliest record, though the word there could be a misreading of false. The word is clearly recorded in British thieves' slang by the 1810s. It probably comes from feak or feague, meaning to make something look better by artificial means, which may itself go back through Low German and Old Saxon to a Proto-West Germanic root meaning to clean up or polish.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/fake (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).