Jump to content

faker

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From fake-er.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

faker (plural fakers)

  1. One who fakes something.
  2. An impostor or impersonator.
    • 1917, Upton Sinclair, The Profits of Religion [] [1]:
      The ordinary Christian will read the claims of the New Thought fakers with contempt; but have I not shown the Catholic Church publishing long lists of money-miracles?
    • 2001 June 23, Sonic Team USA, Sonic Adventure 2, Sega, published 2001:
      Sonic: I found you, faker!
  3. (military, by extension) A friendly unit (usually aircraft) that acts as a hostile unit in a military exercise.
    • 2011, APP-6C: NATO Joint Military Symbology, page 555:
      faker: A friendly track acting as a hostile for exercise purposes. (STANAG 1241)
  4. (obsolete) A thief.
  5. (obsolete) A peddler of petty things.
    • 1859, Snowden's Magistrates Assistant, page 497:
      He has been lagged for beaker hunting, was a mushroom faker [umbrella seller], has been on the steel for snamming a wedge sneezer; []
  6. A snake oil salesman; one who makes exaggerated claims about a product he sells.
    • 1906, Clifton Rodman Wooldridge, The Grafters of America: Who They are and how They Work, page 248:
      Yet the faker is not an unpopular visitor to the country fair. On the contrary, a country fair at which was not heard the stentorian shouts of the faker to "come on, boys; here's the chance to make your fortune," would be considered a dismal failure.
    • 1909 May, G. Frank Lydston, “Honor to Whom Honor is Due”, in The Medical Standard, volume 32, page 248:
      All the doctor has to do nowadays is to read the labels on the bottles and boxes of samples the faker brings him.
    • 1912 June, Locomotive Engineers Journal, volume 46, number 6, page 535:
      Business interests citizens against the food adulterator are severely hampered and injured and the "patent-medicine” faker.

Derived terms

[edit]

Translations

[edit]

See also

[edit]

Adjective

[edit]

faker

  1. comparative form of fake: more fake.
    • 2016, Laura Stampler, Little Black Dresses, Little White Lies, page 147:
      The name sounds faker than fake.
    • 2018, Jessica Brody, Better You Than Me, page 7:
      He returns my smile, although his is probably faker than mine.
    • 2022, Amanda Elliot, Sadie on a Plate, page 155:
      She's faker than the plastic food in the pictures on the McDonald's menu.

Anagrams

[edit]

French

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

Borrowed from English fake (to feign).

Pronunciation

[edit]

Verb

[edit]

faker

  1. (transitive, North America, colloquial) to fake; to feign (to pretend to do something)

Conjugation

[edit]