# phony vs proxy

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

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

### proxy
*adjective · IPA /ˈpɹɒk.si/ · frequency rank #10,749*
Used as a proxy or acting as a proxy.

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