different between counterfeit vs paperhanger

English

Etymology

Anglo-Norman countrefait, from Old French contrefait.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ka?n.t??f?t/
• Rhymes: -?t

Adjective

counterfeit (not comparable)

1. False, especially of money; intended to deceive or carry appearance of being genuine.

2. Inauthentic.

3. Assuming the appearance of something; deceitful; hypocritical.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:fake

Translations

Noun

counterfeit (plural counterfeits)

1. A non-genuine article; a fake.
   • c.1597 William Shakespeare, Henry IV part I, Act II, scene 4:

   • 1971, Peter Brown, The World of Late Antiquity: AD 150—750, Thames & Hudson LTD (2013 reprint), ?ISBN, page 53.

2. One who counterfeits; a counterfeiter.
3. (obsolete) That which resembles another thing; a likeness; a portrait; a counterpart.
   • 1590 Edmund Spenser, Faerie Queene Book III, canto VIII:

4. (obsolete) An impostor; a cheat.
   • c.1597, William Shakespeare, Henry IV part I, Act V, scene 4

Translations

Verb

counterfeit (third-person singular simple present counterfeits, present participle counterfeiting, simple past and past participle counterfeited)

1. (transitive) To falsely produce what appears to be official or valid; to produce a forged copy of.

2. (transitive, obsolete) To produce a faithful copy of.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To feign; to mimic.
   • 1770, Oliver Goldsmith, The Village Schoolmaster

4. (transitive, poker, usually "be counterfeited") Of a turn or river card, to invalidate a player's hand by making a better hand on the board.

Derived terms

• uncounterfeited

Translations

English

Etymology

paper +? hanger

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?pe?p?hæ??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?pe?p?hæ??/
• Hyphenation: pa?per?hang?er

Noun

paperhanger (plural paperhangers)

1. Someone who puts wallpaper on walls.
   • 1942, Elliot Paul, The Last Time I Saw Paris, Sickle Moon 2001, p. 61:

     No one in the street was aware than an Austrian paperhanger named Shickelgruber, and calling himself Hitler, had been arrested in Munich and thrown into jail.

2. (slang) A con man who passes bad cheques or counterfeit paper money; a forger, a con artist.

Translations

Related terms

• hang paper