adj · name · noun · 9 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈbəʊ̯ɡəs/
Received-Pronunciation:[ˈbəʊ̯ɡəs]
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈbɵʊ̯ɡəs/
Received-Pronunciation:[ˈbɵʊ̯ɡəs]
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˈboʊ̯ɡəs/
General-American:[ˈboʊ̯ɡəs]
General-American:/ˈbɔʊ̯ɡəs/
General-American:[ˈbɔ̝ʊ̯ɡəs]
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Australian:/ˈbəʉ̯ɡəs/
Australian:[bəʉ̯ɡəs]
Australian:/ˈbɐʉ̯ɡəs/
Australian:[bɐ̝ʉ̯ɡəs]
Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -əʊɡəs
CMU ARPABET:B OW1 G AH0 S
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Counterfeit or fake; not genuine.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
He was arrested for trying to cash a bogus check at the bank.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: phony, artificial, bad, bogus, bollocks, concocted, counterfeit, ersatz, fabricated, false, falsified, fake, faux, feigned, forged, fraudulent, illegitimate, ingenuine, mock, phoney, phony-baloney, phony as a three-dollar bill, pseudo, put-up, said to be, sham, spurious, synthetic, unauthentic, unreal, trumped-up
Antonyms: none provided
2
adj
Meaning 2
Undesirable or harmful.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: slang
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
adj
Meaning 3
Incorrect, useless, or broken.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
adj
Meaning 4
Of a totally fictitious issue printed for collectors, often issued on behalf of a non-existent territory or country (not to be confused with forgery, which is an illegitimate copy of a genuine stamp).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: hobbies, lifestyle, philately
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: illegal
Antonyms: none provided
5
adj
Meaning 5
Based on false or misleading information or unjustified assumptions.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
bogus laws
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
name
Meaning 6
A surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
A liquor made of rum and molasses.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, dialectal, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
noun
Meaning 8
Counterfeit money.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, archaic, dialectal, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
9
adjective satellite
Meaning 9
fraudulent; having a misleading appearance
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: fake, phony, phoney, bastard
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
First attested as an underworld term for an apparatus for creating counterfeit coins, then the coins themselves. Later, the word was applied to anything of poor quality. The newest use to mean useless is probably from the slang of computer hackers. The origin is unknown, but there are at least two theories that try to trace its origin: * From Hausa boko (“to fake”). Since bogus first appeared in the United States, it may be possible that its ancestor was brought there on a slave ship. * From criminal slang as a short form of tantrabogus, a 19th-century slang term for a menacing object, making some believe that bogus might be linked to bogy or bogey (see bogeyman). In this sense, Bogus might be related to Bogle – a traditional trickster from the Scottish Borders, noted for achieving acts of household trickery; confusing, but not usually damaging.
Borrowed from Polish Bogus, Boguś, or Romanian Boguș.
Across languages
Translations
88 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
زَائِف
(zāʔif)
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Arabic:
كَاذِب
(kāḏib)
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Arabic:
مُزَوَّر
(muzawwar)
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Bulgarian:
фалшив
(falšiv)
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Bulgarian:
фиктивен
(fiktiven)
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Bulgarian:
лъжлив
(lǎžliv)
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Chinese Mandarin:
假
(jiǎ)
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Chinese Mandarin:
偽 /伪
(wěi)
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Chinese Mandarin:
虛偽 /虚伪
(xūwěi)
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Czech:
falešný
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Czech:
falšovaný
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Czech:
nepravý
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Dutch:
vervalst
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Finnish:
väärä
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Finnish:
väärennetty
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Finnish:
tekaistu
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Finnish:
teko-
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Finnish:
vale-
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
French:
bidon
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
German:
falsch
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
German:
gefälscht
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
German:
unecht
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
German:
Schein-
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Icelandic:
óekta
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Icelandic:
falskur
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Icelandic:
svikinn
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Indonesian:
gadungan
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Italian:
falsificato
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Italian:
truccato
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Italian:
taroccato
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Japanese:
偽の
(nise-no)
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Japanese:
虚偽
(kyogi)
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Japanese:
いんちきの
(inchiki-no)
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Māori:
tahupera
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Māori:
tipatipa
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Māori:
parau
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Occitan:
fals
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Occitan:
falsificat
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Polish:
fałszywy
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Polish:
zmyślony
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Portuguese:
falso
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Portuguese:
falsificado
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Portuguese:
adulterado
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Russian:
подде́льный
(poddélʹnyj)
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Russian:
фикти́вный
(fiktívnyj)
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Russian:
фальши́вый
(falʹšívyj)
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Russian:
ло́жный
(lóžnyj)
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Spanish:
trapicheado
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Spanish:
barato
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Spanish:
fingido
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Spanish:
fantasma
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Spanish:
hacerse pasar de
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Spanish:
disfrazarse de
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Spanish:
bamba
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Swedish:
smörja
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Swedish:
falsk
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Swedish:
dynga
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Swedish:
strunt
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Swedish:
nonsens
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Swedish:
skitsnack
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Swedish:
rappakalja
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Swedish:
trams
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Swedish:
goja
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Swedish:
blask
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Swedish:
dravel
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Turkish:
sahte
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
Turkish:
yapmacık
— counterfeit or fake; not genuine
