Meaning of counterfeit in English

counterfeit

adjective

/ˈkaʊn.tə.fɪt/ us

/ˈkaʊn.t̬ɚ.fɪt/

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made to look like the original of something, usually for dishonest or illegal purposes:

counterfeit jewellery/passports/coins

Synonym

fake

Opposites

genuine

real

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Forgery

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Copying and copies

True, real, false, and unreal

Related word

counterfeiter

counterfeit

noun [ C ]

/ˈkaʊn.tə.fɪt/ us

/ˈkaʊn.t̬ɚ.fɪt/

something that is made to look like the original of something else, usually for dishonest or illegal purposes:

This watch may be a counterfeit, but it looks just like the original.

Inspect the tickets carefully for possible counterfeits.

Synonyms

fake (PERSON OR OBJECT)

forgery

Opposite

original

More examplesFewer examples

The agency has an electronic database to help them compare genuine medications against suspected counterfeits.
Investors bought wines from the top chateaux which turned out to be worthless counterfeits.
Employers are not expected to be experts in detecting counterfeits.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Forgery

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Copying and copies

counterfeit

verb [ T ]

/ˈkaʊn.tə.fɪt/ us

/ˈkaʊn.t̬ɚ.fɪt/

to make something look like the original of something else, usually for dishonest or illegal purposes:

Two women and a man have been convicted of counterfeiting $100 bills.

We have made it significantly more difficult for them to counterfeit this document.

Synonym

forge (COPY)

More examplesFewer examples

49 percent of respondents were aware that drugs and other medicines are counterfeited.
The brothers were surprisingly skilled at the fine detail work required to counterfeit coins.
The department added high-tech features designed to make it more difficult to counterfeit the note.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Forgery

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Copying and copies

(Definition of counterfeit from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

counterfeit | American Dictionary

counterfeit

adjective [ not gradable ]

/ˈkɑʊn·tərˌfɪt/

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copied exactly in order to make someone believe that the copy is the original:

A lot of brand-name merchandise sold on the streets is counterfeit.

counterfeit

noun [ C ] us

/ˈkɑʊn·tərˌfɪt/

The bank said this $100 bill was a counterfeit.

counterfeit

verb [ T ] us

/ˈkɑʊn·tərˌfɪt/

They were accused of counterfeiting credit cards and selling them.

(Definition of counterfeit from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

counterfeit | Business English

counterfeit

adjective

/ˈkaʊntəfɪt/ us

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counterfeit money, goods, etc. are illegal copies of the real thing, made to deceive people:

counterfeit bills/notes/software

Counterfeit card fraud is a growing problem.

At least 41% of the drugs in circulation were thought to be counterfeit.

counterfeit

verb [ T ]

/ˈkaʊntəfɪt/ us

to make illegal copies of something such as bank notes, DVDs, or official documents:

Criminals can empty bank accounts by accessing consumer PIN numbers and counterfeiting cards.

counterfeit

noun [ C ]

/ˈkaʊntəfɪt/ us

an illegal copy of something such as a bank note, DVD, or official document:

Many of the watches sold on the market are counterfeits.

(Definition of counterfeit from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of counterfeit

counterfeit

Does such self-coinage, in the guise of coinage of the self, make them counterfeit?

From the Cambridge English Corpus

He has also abandoned counterfeit designer clothes and rests mostly content with simple cotton pyjamas.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Even when drugs are available, weak regulatory capacity may mean that they are substandard or counterfeit, and that they are not rationally used.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Women make occasional appearances in the text, but there is no discussion of gender issues or the female role in counterfeiting networks.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Her problems will not be solved by counterfeit expressions and cheap words.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Some even claim that genuine official coins are counterfeit and will not accept them in trade.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

By the second quarter of the nineteenth century clear variations in regional use of foreign coins (both genuine and counterfeit) can be seen.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

But it turns out to be scenepainting and counterfeit.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Theft, counterfeit products and damage to goods are always risks that manufacturers face when products are transported.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The former, now a separate conceptual category, was declared socially counterproductive, a counterfeit privacy.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

If imitation or counterfeit coins were indistinguishable from genuine coin, the latter quickly would disappear from circulation.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

This prevents us from defining a universal recursion operator for each counterfeit datatype, just as we cannot express them for nested types.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

However, counterfeiting of coin is done to reap a profit, and the only way in which it can generate profit is by adulterating the coin with copper or lead.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

A counterfeit voice, by definition inauthentic, will assuredly invite the opprobrium of jazz musicians, who equate imitation with the assumption of an identity not one's own.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

We may simulate some aspects of dependent typing by making counterfeit type-level copies of data, with type constructors simulating data constructors and type classes simulating datatypes.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

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What is the pronunciation of counterfeit?