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bogus

bo·gusUK /ˈbəʊ̯ɡəs/adjective, noun

bogus is spelled B-O-G-U-S: 5 letters and 2 syllables (bo·gus). It appears 2.7 times per million words in written English, the 16,455th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, bogus means “Counterfeit or fake; not genuine” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in bogus?

Letters5: B-O-G-U-S
Syllables2: bo·gus
In writing2.7 times per million words; the 16,455th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is bogus?

Bogus appears 2.7 times per million words in written English, the 16,455th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce bogus?

  • UK /ˈbəʊ̯ɡəs/
  • UK [ˈbəʊ̯ɡəs]
  • UK /ˈbɵʊ̯ɡəs/

Bogus has 2 syllables, split bo·gus in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-bogus.wav, En-us-bogus.ogg, En-au-bogus.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of bogus

  • more bogus comparative
  • most bogus superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does bogus mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Counterfeit or fake; not genuine.

    He was arrested for trying to cash a bogus check at the bank.

  2. 2

    slangUndesirable or harmful.

  3. 3

    slangIncorrect, useless, or broken.

  4. 4

    Of a totally fictitious issue printed for collectors, often issued on behalf of a non-existent territory or country (not to be confused with forgery, which is an illegitimate copy of a genuine stamp).

  5. 5

    Based on false or misleading information or unjustified assumptions.

    bogus laws

noun

  1. 1

    USA liquor made of rum and molasses.

  2. 2

    USarchaicCounterfeit money.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Bogus in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchbidon (counterfeit or fake; not genuine), nul (undesirable or harmful), hors d'usage, fichu, foutu, niqué (incorrect; useless; broken)
Germanfalsch, gefälscht, unecht, Schein- (counterfeit or fake; not genuine), unbrauchbar (incorrect; useless; broken)
Portuguesefalso, falsificado, adulterado (counterfeit or fake; not genuine)
Spanishtrapicheado, barato, fingido, fantasma, hacerse pasar de, disfrazarse de (counterfeit or fake; not genuine)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does bogus come from?

First attested as an underworld term for an apparatus for creating counterfeit coins, then the coins themselves. Later, the word was applied to anything of poor quality. The newest use to mean useless is probably from the slang of computer hackers.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after bogus