FAKE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does fake mean? 

• FAKE (noun)
  The noun FAKE has 3 senses:

1. something that is a counterfeit; not what it seems to be

2. a person who makes deceitful pretenses

3. (football) a deceptive move made by a football player

  Familiarity information: FAKE used as a noun is uncommon.

• FAKE (adjective)
  The adjective FAKE has 2 senses:

1. fraudulent; having a misleading appearance

2. not genuine or real; being an imitation of the genuine article

  Familiarity information: FAKE used as an adjective is rare.

• FAKE (verb)
  The verb FAKE has 3 senses:

1. make a copy of with the intent to deceive

2. tamper, with the purpose of deception

3. speak insincerely or without regard for facts or truths

  Familiarity information: FAKE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FAKE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Something that is a counterfeit; not what it seems to be

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

fake; postiche; sham

Hypernyms ("fake" is a kind of...):

imitation (something copied or derived from an original)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fake"):

fake book (a fake in the form of an imitation book; used to fill bookcases of people who wish to appear scholarly)

Potemkin village (something that seems impressive but in fact lacks substance)

Derivation:

fake (make a copy of with the intent to deceive)

fake (tamper, with the purpose of deception)

fake (not genuine or real; being an imitation of the genuine article)

fake (speak insincerely or without regard for facts or truths)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A person who makes deceitful pretenses

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

fake; faker; fraud; imposter; impostor; pretender; pseud; pseudo; role player; sham; shammer

Hypernyms ("fake" is a kind of...):

beguiler; cheat; cheater; deceiver; slicker; trickster (someone who leads you to believe something that is not true)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fake"):

name dropper (someone who pretends that famous people are his/her friends)

ringer (a contestant entered in a competition under false pretenses)

Derivation:

fake (make a copy of with the intent to deceive)

fake (tamper, with the purpose of deception)

fake (fraudulent; having a misleading appearance)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(football) a deceptive move made by a football player

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

fake; juke

Hypernyms ("fake" is a kind of...):

feint (any distracting or deceptive maneuver (as a mock attack))

Domain category:

football; football game (any of various games played with a ball (round or oval) in which two teams try to kick or carry or propel the ball into each other's goal)

• FAKE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fraudulent; having a misleading appearance

Synonyms:

bastard; bogus; fake; phoney; phony

Similar:

counterfeit; imitative (not genuine; imitating something superior)

Derivation:

fake (a person who makes deceitful pretenses)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Not genuine or real; being an imitation of the genuine article

Synonyms:

fake; false; faux; imitation; simulated

Context example:

a purse of simulated alligator hide

Similar:

artificial; unreal (contrived by art rather than nature)

Derivation:

fake (something that is a counterfeit; not what it seems to be)

• FAKE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they fake    ... he / she / it fakes   
Past simple: faked   
Past participle: faked   
-ing form: faking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make a copy of with the intent to deceive

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

counterfeit; fake; forge

Context example:

She forged a Green Card

Hypernyms (to "fake" is one way to...):

re-create (create anew)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

fake (something that is a counterfeit; not what it seems to be)

fakery (the act of faking (or the product of faking))

fake (a person who makes deceitful pretenses)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Tamper, with the purpose of deception

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

cook; fake; falsify; fudge; manipulate; misrepresent; wangle

Context example:

falsify the data

Hypernyms (to "fake" is one way to...):

cheat; chisel (engage in deceitful behavior; practice trickery or fraud)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fake"):

juggle (manipulate by or as if by moving around components)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

fake (something that is a counterfeit; not what it seems to be)

fake; faker (a person who makes deceitful pretenses)

fakery (the act of faking (or the product of faking))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Speak insincerely or without regard for facts or truths

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

bull; bullshit; fake; talk through one's hat

Context example:

The politician was not well prepared for the debate and faked it

Hypernyms (to "fake" is one way to...):

affect; dissemble; feign; pretend; sham (make believe with the intent to deceive)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s on something

Derivation:

fake (something that is a counterfeit; not what it seems to be)

faker (a person who makes deceitful pretenses)

 Context examples 

“It’s a cross! It’s a cross! It’s a fake!” was the cry.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“I'll put another again to that, by thunder! For it was this same boy that faked the chart from Billy Bones. First and last, we've split upon Jim Hawkins!”

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

It may be the earliest ever example of fake news.

(‘Trickster god’ used fake news in Babylonian Noah story, University of Cambridge)

He couldn't fake being their kind.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Some faces showed a genuine smile, while others presented forced or fake smiles.

(White people’s perceptions of the emotions on black people’s faces are less accurate than their perceptions among other white people, University of Granada)

This 'fake' lunar dirt is called lunar regolith simulant.

(Scientists Find Way to Extract Oxygen from Moon Dirt, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Had some damaged photographs, said to be fakes.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then for three days, they unknowingly received either active or sham (fake) transcranial direct current stimulation, or tDCS.

(Brain stimulation limits calories consumed in adults with obesity, NIH)

Scientists have shown that white people find it difficult to tell the difference between genuine and false smiles on black people’s faces—between genuine and fake happiness.

(White people’s perceptions of the emotions on black people’s faces are less accurate than their perceptions among other white people, University of Granada)

If you are clever and know your business you can fake a bone as easily as you can a photograph.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)