fake

Meaning

1. Not real; false, fraudulent
2. Insincere

charlatan

artificial goods

talk through one’s hat

prevaricate

pose as

spurious article

artificial product

find an excuse

clip artist

sharpy

jiggery pokery

make as if

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/feɪ̯k/

The origin is not known with certainty, although first attested in 1775 C.E. in British criminals' slang. It is probably from feak, feague (“to give a better appearance through artificial means, spruce up, embellish”); akin to Dutch veeg (“a swipe”), Dutch vegen (“to sweep, wipe”); German fegen (“to sweep, to polish”). Compare also Old English fācn (“deceit, fraud”). Perhaps related also to Old Norse fjúka (“to fade, vanquish, disappear”), Old Norse feikn (“strange, scary, unnatural”).

Cognate with Dutch

veeg

Cognate with German

fegen

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