fake
fake Lexical Profile
fake Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Not genuine, authentic, or real; made to look like something else, often in order to deceive.
"The travelers were detained at the border after presenting fake passports to the customs officers."
Insincere, pretentious, or affected in manner, behavior, or emotion.
"She offered a fake smile to her rival across the conference table."
• noun
An object, document, or work of art that is not genuine; a forgery or counterfeit.
"The museum curator quickly realized that thesupposedly ancient statue was a clever fake."
A person who claims to have qualifications, skills, or traits that they do not truly possess; an impostor.
"The self-proclaimed healer was exposed as a fake by investigative journalists."
A deceptive physical movement in sports intended to mislead an opponent about one's intended direction or action.
"The point guard used a quick head fake to get past the defender and drive to the basket."
A single loop or winding of a coiled rope or cable on a ship's deck, arranged so that it can run out freely without tangling.
"The sailors laid the hawser in neat fakes along the forward deck before dropping anchor."
• verb
To pretend to have or experience an emotion, illness, or physical state in order to deceive others.
"He faked a stomachache so that he could stay home from school."
To make a fraudulent copy or imitation of something; to falsify or forge.
"The accountant was arrested after attempting to fake the company's financial records."
To make a deceptive move in a game or sport in order to throw an opponent off balance.
"The winger faked to the left before sprinting down the right sideline."
To improvise a musical passage, especially in jazz, by relying on ear and chord progressions rather than reading sheet music.
"When the pianist lost his place in the score, he had to fake the accompaniment for a few bars."
To coil a rope or line in overlapping loops or figure-eights on a deck so that it runs out smoothly without kinking.
"The crew faked down the anchor line to prepare for an emergency drop."
• Rhymes for fake
Word Origin & Etymology
First recorded in late 18th-century British criminal cant as the verb 'feak' or 'fake' (meaning to tamper with or doctor an object for deception), possibly derived from German 'fegen' (to sweep or polish) or Dutch 'vegen'.