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Bogus Has a Long History
In the early 19th century, a "bogus" was a machine used to make counterfeit coins. No one knows for sure how this coin-copying contraption got its name, but before long bogus became a name for funny money or for a fraudulent imitation of any kind. The more common "phony" adjective followed.
Synonyms
Examples of bogus in a Sentence
The Editors, National Review, 12 Apr. 2024
In Miami, church officials recently warned the faithful about fake priests performing bogus rituals in exchange for iTunes gift cards loaded with cash.
—Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 12 Apr. 2024
Advertisement In Miami, church officials recently warned the faithful about fake priests performing bogus rituals in exchange for iTunes gift cards loaded with cash.
—Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2024
And on Wednesday, my colleague Vittoria Elliott reported that some experts fear AI could be used to bombard election officials with bogus Freedom of Information Act requests, wasting their valuable time.
—Makena Kelly, WIRED, 11 Apr. 2024
Online tricksters and conspiracy theorists offered up a bounty of bogus claims about globalist plots and Biblical prophecy.
—Dan Horn, The Enquirer, 8 Apr. 2024
The scammers then sent letters and other documents back and forth to each other to create the appearance that there was trading going on and returns being generated, but of course these documents were completely bogus.
—Jay Adkisson, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
In a marathon trial that lasted off and on from June to November, the State Bar, which regulates lawyers in California, argued that Eastman was unfit to practice law for peddling bogus claims that fraud cost Trump the election and for promoting a fake-elector scheme to block the electoral count.
—Christopher Goffard, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2024
The public should be skeptical and not rush to accept these bogus allegations.
—Jack Irvin, Peoplemag, 26 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bogus.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near bogus
Cite this Entry
“Bogus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bogus. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
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bogus
adjective
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