bogus

comparative more bogus · superlative most bogus

1. Counterfeit or fake; not genuine.

   He was arrested for trying to cash a bogus check at the bank.

   4 more examples

   […] that he and David Whitmer swore falsley, stole, cheated, lied, sold bogus money, (base coin,), and also stones and sand for bogus; that letters in the post-office had been opened, read, and destroyed; and that those same men were concerned with a gang of counterfeiters, coiners, and blacklegs.

   1842, Daniel Parish Kidder, Mormonism and the Mormons: A Historical View of the Rise and Progress of the Sect Self-styled Latter-Day Saints, Carlton & Lanahan

   They have printed bogus despatches, and unhesitatingly used what they knew was bogus matter in a way to mislead even newspaper men.

   1895, Alphonso Alva Hopkins, Wealth and Waste: The Principles of Political Economy in Their Application to the Present Problems of Labor, Law, and the Liquor Traffic, Funk & Wagnalls Company

   The organization of “bogus companies,” started purely for the purpose of eliminating competitors, seems to have been a not infrequent practice.

   1921, Burton J. Hendrick, The Age of Big Business

   This was the first time that James had met with one of the bogus etymologists common at that period, who believed that the derivation of a word could be solved by finding any foreign word that sounded something like it.

   1977, K.M. Elizabeth Murray, Caught in the Web of Words, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 53

   Synonyms: phony, artificial, bad, bollocks, concocted, counterfeit, ersatz, fabricated

2. slangUndesirable or harmful.

   What Jefferson was saying was, Hey! You know, we left this England place 'cause it was bogus; so if we don't get some cool rules ourselves - pronto - we'll just be bogus too! Get it?

   1982, Cameron Crowe, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, spoken by Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn)

3. slangcomputingIncorrect, useless, or broken.
4. hobbiesOf 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).

   Bogus stamps are labels made to deceive stamp collectors. Many bogus stamps were made prior to 1900 when some had names of imaginary countries.

   1962, Douglas Patrick, The International Guide to Stamps and Stamp Collecting: Includes the Answers to 1200 Questions Most Often Asked about Stamps

   Synonyms: illegal

5. Based on false or misleading information or unjustified assumptions.

   bogus laws

1. USdialectaluncountableA liquor made of rum and molasses.

   BOGUS. A liquor made of rum and molasses.

   1848, John Russell Bartlett, Dictionary of Americanisms: A glossary of words and phrases, usually regarded as peculiar to the United States

   2 more examples

   "Calibogus," or "bogus" was cold rum and beer unsweetened.

   1919, Harvey Washington Wiley, Beverages and Their Adulteration: Origin, Composition, Manufacture, Natural, Artificial, Fermented, Distilled, Alkaloidal and Fruit Juices

   The American colonists drank rum straight, spiced, or mixed. They combined it with a list of ingredients: rum mixed with hard cider was called stonewall; rum and beer made bogus; rum and molasses made blackstrap.

   2014, J. Anne Funderburg, Bootleggers and Beer Barons of the Prohibition Era, page 311

2. USarchaicdialectaluncountableCounterfeit money.

   There is not a merchant in this city but knows this fact, and also that there has been a large quantity of bogus in circulation.

   1846, Joseph H. Jackson, The Adventures and Experience of Joseph H. Jackson: Disclosing the Depths of Mormon Villainy Practiced in Nauvoo, page 15

   3 more examples

   “Ahem—it is the opinion of the court that the prisoner has been making bogus; so we must put him in the jug until Superior Court.[…]”

   1841 December 8, “Western Court Eloquence”, in Carlisle Weekly Herald, page 2

   This being agreed to, they hand the soldier the same number of dollars they received from him—but all counterfeit. This new way of passing bogus they have practised to a considerable extent […]

   1848 January 26, C. C., “[Letter]”, in The Washington Union, published 28 February 1848, page 3

   Edward Bonney, a bounty hunter who passed bogus on occasion, claimed to have been working to break up yet another gang operating on the Mississippi with a base at Nauvoo.

   1994, John L. Brooke, The Refiner’s Fire: The Making of Mormon Cosmology, 1644–1844, →ISBN, pages 269–70

plural Boguses

1. A surname.