Meaning & use
Phoniness
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The quality of being false, insincere, or fake.
See it in a sentence
Holden Caulfield's disdain for phoniness runs through the entire novel.
There was a phoniness to his compliments that made her uneasy.
A note on using this word
Popularized in American slang partly through J.D. Salinger's 'The Catcher in the Rye', where the narrator repeatedly condemns 'phoniness' in the adult world.
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