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fake

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noun

fake

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verb

1
as in to counterfeit
to imitate or copy especially in order to deceive pranksters faked giant footprints and then claimed that they had seen Bigfoot

Synonyms & Similar Words

2
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as in to evade
to elude (an opponent in a sports contest) by making a deceptive or agile movement the running back faked the defense by stepping to his left and then quickly cutting to the right

Synonyms & Similar Words

Synonym Chooser

How is the word fake different from other nouns like it?

Some common synonyms of fake are counterfeit, fraud, humbug, imposture, and sham. While all these words mean "a thing made to seem other than it is," fake implies an imitation of or substitution for the genuine but does not necessarily imply dishonesty.

these jewels are fakes; the real ones are in the vault

When could counterfeit be used to replace fake?

The meanings of counterfeit and fake largely overlap; however, counterfeit applies especially to the close imitation of something valuable.

20-dollar bills that were counterfeits

When is fraud a more appropriate choice than fake?

The synonyms fraud and fake are sometimes interchangeable, but fraud usually implies a deliberate perversion of the truth.

the diary was exposed as a fraud

In what contexts can humbug take the place of fake?

While the synonyms humbug and fake are close in meaning, humbug suggests elaborate pretense usually so flagrant as to be transparent.

creating publicity by foisting humbugs on a gullible public

When is it sensible to use imposture instead of fake?

The words imposture and fake are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, imposture applies to any situation in which a spurious object or performance is passed off as genuine.

their claim of environmental concern is an imposture

When would sham be a good substitute for fake?

Although the words sham and fake have much in common, sham applies to fraudulent imitation of a real thing or action.

condemned the election as a sham

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of fake
Adjective
Russia's Influence Operations in 2016, Russia conducted extensive campaigns during the presidential election, employing fake personas, troll farms, and manipulated content to inflame racial, ideological, and cultural divisions. Amir Daftari, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Sep. 2025 Videos that are fake are believed to be real; videos that are real can easily be derided as fake. Andrew R. Chow, Time, 12 Sep. 2025
Noun
The Buffs bit on a zone-read fake on Delaware’s first drive as tailback Jo Silver opened the game by gashing CU for a 10-yard gain. Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 6 Sep. 2025 True stories are one way to differentiate the authentic from the fake. Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 6 Sep. 2025
Verb
What could be more authentically Eighties than a high-school girl who’s never tasted anything tripper than root beer going onstage to fake her way through a John Lennon acid freakout with the Rocket Man and the Piano Man? Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 14 Sep. 2025 The attack relies on ClickFix tactics, where victims searching for Mac troubleshooting help are lured to fake websites or GitHub repositories. Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 12 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for fake
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fake
Adjective
  • The 20 counterfeit products CNBC tested for its investigation.
    Gabrielle Fonrouge,Paige Tortorelli, CNBC, 19 Sep. 2025
  • The people who chased and shot at former Denver Broncos player Josh Reynolds and his two friends last year mistook the trio for people who’d used counterfeit money to purchase $250,000 worth of cocaine in an earlier drug deal, according to court records.
    Shelly Bradbury, Denver Post, 19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Getty Images That upward trajectory stands in contrast to the United States, where life expectancy virtually flatlined during the 2010s and even dipped slightly on occasions during the 2010s—a trend blamed in large part on a surge in deaths from overdoses from the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
    Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Sep. 2025
  • McCurdy and his team there have watched the kratom market shift from simple leaf powder to concentrated extracts and now to semi-synthetic compounds like 7-OH.
    Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Learners also engaged in mock sales calls with members of the Hawks’ sales staff, receiving real-time feedback in small breakout rooms.
    Ryan Stowers, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
  • Analysts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo in their latest 2026 mock draft have Peterson edging out BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Duke’s Cameron Boozer and Tennessee’s Nate Ament for the top spot.
    Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 16 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • The score remained that way until the eighth when Ramírez sparked a two-out rally with a double.
    Betsy Helfand, Twin Cities, 20 Sep. 2025
  • Guzman drew a leadoff walk, Bryce Teodosio singled and Nolan Schanuel drove them both in with a double to right.
    Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 20 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • In turn, the Koch brothers supported climate denial think tanks, while Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch’s Fox News nightly broadcasts worked overtime to convince Americans that both climate change and COVID-19 were hoaxes or that vaccines were ineffective or unsafe.
    Michael E. Mann, Time, 17 Sep. 2025
  • While these hoaxes mostly ended up being false alarms, experts note that these types of hoaxes are not only a serious crime with substantial penalties for those involved but can also put first responders and bystanders at risk.
    ABC News, ABC News, 12 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Still, fraud investigations are likely to remain in the headlines, presenting a lasting vulnerability for the governor, Schier said.
    Alex Derosier, Twin Cities, 20 Sep. 2025
  • More recently, her brother, Jose Napoleon, the director of admissions at Azure College in Fort Lauderdale, was charged this year with a wire-fraud conspiracy involving the sale of false nursing degrees.
    Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 20 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • It’s forged in small rituals, honest boundaries, supportive villages, and the grace to accept what can’t be controlled.
    Jennifer Jay Palumbo, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
  • Washington has so far thwarted Beijing’s ambitions to dominate the Indo-Pacific by forging alliances and partnerships in the region.
    Thomas Wright, The Atlantic, 17 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The study saw parents use actions to joke and pretend with kids aged 16 to 20 months old.
    Jack Beresford, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Sep. 2025
  • Scrolling on one’s phone can be a deadening experience, but here’s someone feeling, or at least pretending to feel, a genuine feeling—even if the abundance of these videos surely numbs us further.
    Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 15 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Fake.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fake. Accessed 22 Sep. 2025.

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