fake

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The separation of the real from the fake is the cornerstone on which our understanding of any artist's work is based.

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Definitions (43)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (11)

  1. adjective Having a false or misleading appearance; fraudulent.
  2. noun One that is not authentic or genuine; a sham.
  3. noun Sports A brief feint or aborted change of direction intended to mislead one's opponent or the opposing team.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (20)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (4)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (8)

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Examples

  • Everything about her was fake, her name, her eyelashes, her fingernails, her breasts. 1 once told Simon her breasts were too symmetrical to be real. —  the secret sense
  • The separation of the real from the fake is the cornerstone on which our understanding of any artist's work is based. —  What Is an Andy Warhol?
  • Going for the fake is a reasonable decision-4 extra points is a reasonable game.
  • We spent $5 for the fake, the Essay Miami (PH), which is a rip-off of Issey Miyake who's a famous Japanese designer. —  CNN Transcript Dec 15, 2007
  • "But the bigger the fake is the better it catches the crowd. —  The Skipper and the Skipped Being the Shore Log of Cap'n Aaron Sproul
 

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Words tagged fake

quack

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Fake has been looked up 291 times, favorited 0 times, listed 10 times, and commented on 0 times.

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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

false ·  real ·  phony ·  damn ·  pretty ·  precious
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (7)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Origin unknown.
  2. Middle English faken, to coil a rope.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (5)

  1. from Middle English faken, fold; formerly also fack, Scots feck, faik; prob. from Swedish vecka, fold. Cf. fake, n.
  2. Formerly also fack, Scots faik, feminine, prob. from Swedish veck, a fold. Cf. fake, v. The Middle High German vach, German fach, fold, is a special sense of a general word for ‘part’ or ‘division’: see fetch, etymology
  3. It is not impossible that this may be a perversion of Middle English faiten, dissemble, go about shamming, beg (said of beggars and tramps); so faker (q. v.) may represent Middle English faitour: see faitor. But thieves' slang is shifting and has usually no history.
  4. from fake, v.
  5. Scots, also faik; perhaps from Middle Dutch facken, seize, apprehend.
 

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/feɪk/
by American Heritage

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