phony-baloney

adjective

ˈfō-nē-bə-ˈlō-nē How to pronounce phony-baloney (audio)
variants or phoney-baloney
Definition of phony-baloneynext
as in fake
not being or expressing what one appears to be or express if you believe the company's phony-baloney press releases, it's in business solely for the benefit of mankind

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 phony-baloney Namely, their own phony-baloney, six-figure jobs. — Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 20 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for phony-baloney
  1. fake
  2. double
  3. meaningless
  4. phony
  5. hypocritical
  6. lip
  7. artificial
  8. superficial
Adjective
  • Beware of the stalls selling fake leather or souvenirs made in China.
    — Laura Itzkowitz, Travel + Leisure, 8 July 2026
  • Tired of spending his days simply delighting in psychological torture and revenge, Lestat publicly chases the life of a famous rock star, writing and producing an album and performing in a cross-country tour while maintaining a fake vampire persona.
    — CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 7 July 2026
Definition of fake
Adjective
  • Taylor Walls recorded three hits while Chandler Simpson added a double and a single.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 2 July 2026
  • Resting options include double bunk beds in back and queen bed with bamboo mattress up front.
    — Kris Millgate, USA Today, 1 July 2026
Definition of double
Adjective
  • One sure focus is the rampant grade inflation that exaggerates student achievement and has made graduating high school close to meaningless as an indicator of college preparedness.
    — U T Editorial Board, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 July 2026
  • This distinction between meaningful and meaningless data evokes signal versus noise, a communication concept formulated by the mathematician Claude Shannon.
    — Michael Ashley, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of meaningless
Adjective
  • When a legitimate trucking company or dispatcher responds to the phony load listing, the criminals reply with an email with malware contained in a link that appears to be a shipping document or contract.
    — Steve Weisman, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
  • In the cases before the Supreme Court as well as the wage case before Hall, there is no suggestion that lawyers intentionally buttressed arguments with phony precedents in order to win an unfair advantage.
    — Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 26 June 2026
Definition of phony
Adjective
  • Or means that any comments are supposedly hypocritical.
    — Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 23 June 2026
  • Earlier this month, Matsui’s campaign came after Vang for taking corporate donations from Sacramento-area businesses during her city council campaigns, implying that Vang’s vows to not accept money from corporate PACs in her congressional bid is hypocritical.
    — Mathew Miranda June 4, Sacbee.com, 4 June 2026
Definition of hypocritical
Adjective
  • Likewise, lip masks designed to be worn overnight can provide improved hydration and comfort over daytime treatments.
    — Caroline Reilly, Forbes.com, 25 Mar. 2026
  • On the opposite end of the spectrum, Tatianna points to cinnamon as a conductor of heat—one commonly used in lip plumper products to achieve a sultry pout.
    — Essence, Essence, 23 Nov. 2025
Definition of lip
Adjective
  • The group was diving in the Golfo Nuevo around the Hu Shun Yu 809 artificial reef.
    — Christine Pelisek, PEOPLE, 7 July 2026
  • Memory chip stocks have seen a massive run-up this year as a supply crunch, fueled by unrelenting artificial demand, allows businesses to set pricing.
    — Samantha Subin, CNBC, 7 July 2026
Definition of artificial
Adjective
  • Context that lacks acknowledgment comes across as defensive, and acknowledgment that lacks context comes across superficial.
    — Kevin Kruse, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
  • At the most superficial level, the DSA influx has associated Democrats with a series of kooky beliefs and statements.
    — Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 1 July 2026
Definition of superficial

Browse Nearby Words

phony
phony-baloney
phonying
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Phony-baloney.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phony-baloney. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All