# phony vs ploy

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### phony
*adjective · IPA /ˈfoʊni/ · frequency rank #18,394*
Fraudulent; fake; having a misleading appearance.

### ploy
*noun · IPA /plɔɪ/ · frequency rank #21,898*
A tactic, strategy, or scheme.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/phony-vs-ploy