-phony

-phony

suff.

Sound: telephony.

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[Greek -phōniā, from phōnē, sound, voice; see bhā- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

-phony

n combining form

indicating a specified type of sound: cacophony; euphony.

[from Greek -phōnia, from phōnē sound]

-phonic adj combining form

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pho•ny

or pho•ney

(ˈfoʊ ni)

adj. -ni•er, -ni•est, adj.

1. not real or genuine; fake: phony diamonds.

2. false or deceiving: a phony excuse.

3. affected or pretentious.

n.

4. something phony; a counterfeit or fake.

5. an insincere or affected person.

v.t.

6. to falsify (often fol. by up): to phony up a document.

[1895–1900; perhaps alter. and resp. of fawney (slang) finger ring (< Irish fáinne), taken to mean “false” in the phrase fawney rig a confidence game in which a brass ring is sold as a gold one]

pho′ni•ly, adv.

pho′ni•ness, n.

-phony

a combining form used in the formation of abstract nouns corresponding to nouns ending in -phone: telephony.

[< Greek -phōnia; see -phone, -y³]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.