Chinese word

假

Pronunciation

Pinyinjiǎ

Meaning

  • adjectivefake

Example

这件衣服是假的。zhè jiàn yī fú shì jiǎ de

This piece of clothing is fake.

Illustration for 假 (fake)

More examples

他不小心买到了假东西。tā bù xiǎo xīn mǎi dào le jiǎ dōng xī

He accidentally bought fake goods.

Core concept

A surface, claim, or behavior that presents itself as real while lacking the genuine thing behind it.

Common phrases

  • 买假东西mǎi jiǎ dōng xī

    buy fake goods

  • 假东西jiǎ dōng xī

    fake goods

Definition in Chinese

不真实、冒充或伪造，用来表示物品、言语或行为等不是本来的、带有欺骗性的情况。bù zhēn shí mào chōng huò wěi zào yòng lái biǎo shì wù pǐn yán yǔ huò xíng wéi děng bú shì běn lái de dài yǒu qī piàn xìng de qíng kuàng

Word origin

The character 假 (jiǎ, "fake") is built from 亻 (rén, "person") + 叚 (jiǎ, "borrow"), and the older borrowing sense connects a stand-in with something that is not genuine.

Usage tips

  • English often uses a truth-related word for a report or promise but an imitation-related word for an object, so the kind of thing being described guides the best English wording.

Other meanings

  • counterfeitnoun
  • falsehoodnoun

Opposites

Word lists with this word