Word
Definition
adj. not real or true; fake. You use this word when something is clearly a lie or not genuine.
adj. not genuine, valid, or true; false or fraudulent. Informal in register; common in North American English.
Examples
“That excuse sounds completely bogus to me.”
“The company issued a bogus invoice to cover up the missing funds.”
“Skeptics dismissed the study's findings as bogus, pointing out that the sample size was too small to support such broad conclusions.”
Examples
simple
“That excuse sounds completely bogus to me.”
contextual
“The company issued a bogus invoice to cover up the missing funds.”
complex
“Skeptics dismissed the study's findings as bogus, pointing out that the sample size was too small to support such broad conclusions.”
Real-World Examples
“Wagman suggested anyone could have used Sidhu’s employee number to print the bogus waybill.” Etymology
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. The origin is unknown, but there are at least two theories that try to trace its origin: * From Hausa boko (“to fake”). Since bogus first appeared in the United States, it may be possible that its ancestor was brought there on a slave ship. * From criminal slang as a short form of tantrabogus, a 19th-century slang term for a menacing object, making some believe that bogus might be linked to bogy or bogey (see bogeyman). In this sense, Bogus might be related to Bogle – a traditional trickster from the Scottish Borders, noted for achieving acts of household trickery; confusing, but not usually damaging.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.B2 FirstIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.5.5–6.5TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 4.0–4.572–94TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.785–944
- Frequency
- Frequent
- Level
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Updated
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QR code
englishreference.com/q/bogus
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「日本語」 data: JMdict (EDRDG), CC BY-SA 4.0