Meanings
- not comparablesimile; set phrase; simile; set phraseExtremely phony; fake; dishonest; completely bogus.
Though the film has some handsome, carefully staged action sequences, its machismo seems as phony as a three‐dollar bill.
1978 July 2, Vincent Canby, “Film View”, in New York Times, retrieved 23 Jan 20182 more examples
But this chart, originally created by the office of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, is as phony as a three-dollar bill. Our friends at PolitiFact did a pretty thorough takedown of it in May, giving it their worst rating: “pants on fire.”
2011 September 29, Glenn Kessler, “The Fact Checker: A bogus chart on Obama and the debt gets a new lease on life”, in Washington Post, retrieved 23 Jan 2018"You know, Mr. Sunshine, your laid-back, look-at-the-bright-side, the-glass-is-half-full malarkey is starting to come across as very condescending, especially since I know that your life-is-just-a-bowl-of-cherries spiel is as phony as a three-dollar bill."
2012, Joan Elliott Pickart, The Marrying MacAllister, →ISBNSynonyms: fake as a two-dollar bill, queer as a three dollar bill
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveExtremely phony; fake; dishonest; completely bogus.
Origin
Since three-dollar bills do not exist. The Kirtland Safety Society Anti-Banking Co. in Ohio did issue unofficial three-dollar bills during a banking crisis but they were never legitimate.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish kiero kuin korkkiruuvi
- kiero kuin korkkiruuviTranslations
French être faux comme un jeton
- être faux comme un jetonTranslations
German so falsch wie ein falscher Fünfziger, so falsch wie ein falscher Fuffziger
- so falsch wie ein falscher FünfzigerTranslations
- so falsch wie ein falscher FuffzigerTranslations
Spanish más falso que un duro sevillano, más falso que un duro de madera
- más falso que un duro sevillanoTranslations
- más falso que un duro de maderaTranslations
- más falso que JudasTranslations
Cite this entry
phony as a three-dollar bill. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phony%20as%20a%20three-dollar%20bill
“phony as a three-dollar bill.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phony%20as%20a%20three-dollar%20bill. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “phony as a three-dollar bill,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phony%20as%20a%20three-dollar%20bill.
Source: phony as a three-dollar bill on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.