faux

Etymology

It is borrowed from French faux (“false”),^[2][3][4][5] from Old French fals,^[5][6] from Latin falsus,^[4][6] also the source of false.^[3][5] The French word dates from the 12th century.^[3] English used it earlier in borrowed French phrases such as faux pas and in faux-prude (1676, in Etherege).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

False, feigned: 1684, in Otway's Atheist.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

For three centuries the word was mainly used in compounds and French phrases: Etymonline notes it with English words since 1676.^[3] Used on its own, with the French pronunciation, to mean "fake", it spread from the 1980s;^[3] the Shorter Oxford dates the adjective to the late 20th century and labels it originally a word of the fashion trade,^[7] where it describes imitation materials such as fur, leather and pearls.^[7][8][5][4] The OED also records it of behaviour, for feigned or affected.^[2] On American campuses faux was clipped from faux pas as a noun, a mistake, and a verb, to blunder, recorded in 1986.^[9]

Timeline

• 1676 – faux-prude, in Etherege.^[3]
• 1684 – false, feigned.^[2][4]
• 1980s – used alone, for fake or imitation.^[3][7]
• 1986 – US campus slang, to make a mistake.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Made in imitation of something else; artificial or fake: a faux leather sofa.^[5][4][8][2]
2. Not genuine in behaviour; feigned or affected: faux modesty.^[2][8]

Related words

• faux pas
• false

Usage notes

It is often joined to an English noun, as in faux-leather or faux fur.^[8][7]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com