pseudo-

pseu·do-
/ˈsjuː.doʊ//ˈsuː.doʊ/

prefix

False; not genuine; fake.

Similar
mis-
OriginMiddle English pseudo- ← Ancient Greek ψευδής (pseudḗs) →
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Meanings

prefix

alternative pseud-

  1. False; not genuine; fake.

    Synonyms: mis-

  2. proscribedQuasi-; almost.

Synonyms & antonyms

prefixFalse; not genuine; fake.

Similar
mis-
Also see
falsemendaciousmis-para-untrue

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekψεύδω (pseúdō)
  2. Ancient Greekψευδής (pseudḗs)
  3. Middle Englishpseudo-
  4. Englishpseudo-

From Middle English pseudo- (but uncommon before Modern English), from Ancient Greek ψευδής (pseudḗs, “false, lying”).

More words from Middle English, Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ψευδο-
  • ψευδο- (pseudo-)not genuine
Arabic زائف-
  • زائف-not genuine
Bulgarian псевдо-
  • псевдо- (psevdo-)not genuine
Catalan pseudo-
  • pseudo-not genuine
Chinese Cantonese 偽- /伪-
  • 偽- /伪- (ngai⁶)not genuine
Chinese Mandarin 偽- /伪-, 假-
  • 偽- /伪- (wěi-)not genuine
  • 假- (jiǎ-)not genuine
Czech pa-, pseudo-
  • pa-not genuine
  • pseudo-not genuine
Danish pseudo-, skin-
  • pseudo-not genuine
  • skin-not genuine
Esperanto pseŭdo-
  • pseŭdo-not genuine
Finnish sala-, vale-
  • sala-not genuine
  • vale-not genuine
  • pseudo-not genuine
French pseudo-
  • pseudo-not genuine
German after-, schein-
  • after-not genuine
  • schein-not genuine
  • pseudo-not genuine
  • falsch-not genuine
Greek ψευδο-
  • ψευδο- (psevdo-)not genuine
Hindi छद्म-, कूट-
  • छद्म- (chadma-)not genuine
  • कूट- (kūṭ-)not genuine
Hungarian ál-, pszeudo-
  • ál-not genuine
  • pszeudo-not genuine
Icelandic gervi-
  • gervi-not genuine
Irish bréag-
  • bréag-not genuine
Italian pseudo-
  • pseudo-not genuine
Japanese 擬-, 疑似
  • 擬- (gi-)not genuine
  • 疑似 (giji)not genuine
Norwegian Bokmål pseudo-, psevdo-
  • pseudo-not genuine
  • psevdo-not genuine
  • falsk-not genuine
Polish pseudo-, niby-
  • pseudo-not genuine
  • niby-not genuine
Portuguese pseudo-
  • pseudo-not genuine
Russian псевдо-, лже-
  • псевдо- (psevdo-)not genuine
  • лже- (lže-)not genuine
Spanish pseudo-, seudo-
  • pseudo-not genuine
  • seudo-not genuine
Swedish falsk-, fusk-
  • falsk-not genuine
  • fusk-not genuine
  • pseudo-not genuine
  • kvasi-not genuine
Ukrainian псевдо-
  • псевдо- (psevdo-)not genuine
Cite this entry
APA

pseudo-. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pseudo-

MLA

“pseudo-.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pseudo-. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pseudo-,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pseudo-.

Source: pseudo- on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.