Etymologically
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faux

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Pronunciation

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]

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