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counterfeiter

counterfeiter

13 7.5
A person who makes fake money or documents to trick people
  • noun
  • /ˈkaʊntərˌfiːtər/
translation icon : falsificador
  • A skilled counterfeiter managed to produce convincing replicas of important documents.
  • catch counterfeiters
  • ring of counterfeiters
  • deter counterfeiters

But instead I stumbled upon the world's greatest counterfeiter.

Examples

  • According to one of Van Meegeren's biographers, this exploit was merely the culmination of a career as a counterfeiter stretching back into the 1920s.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Treasury department handles counterfeiters.

  • The best counterfeiter in France.

  • - The target's a major counterfeiter - involved in the murder of a federal agent.

  • I discovered your boyfriend is a counterfeiter and a killer.

  • Big Raymond, you're the only counterfeiter here.

  • The folks at mises.org will call him a fraud and a counterfeiter.

    Blog text (16)
  • My partner and I have been tracking a ring of counterfeiters passing phony $20 bills across the state.

  • Since his release from prison in 1974, Frank has helped the FBI capture some of the world's most elusive check forgers and counterfeiters and is considered one of the world's foremost authorities on bank fraud and forgery.

  • The police arrested a notorious counterfeiter who was printing fake money in his basement.

Synonyms

crook
vscounterfeiter
  • Offensive
153 3.9

A dishonest person who cheats or steals

specializes in producing illegal copies to imitate genuine items for fraud
con artist
vscounterfeiter
40 4.8

A person who tricks people by gaining their trust to take their money or valuables

produces illegal copies of items rather than using trust to steal
scammer
vscounterfeiter
  • NSFW
20 4.0

A person who tricks others to take their money or things

manufactures illegal copies of items to trick people into accepting them
faker
vscounterfeiter
  • Offensive
15 5.2

A person who pretends to be someone else or lies to trick people

creates illegal copies of things rather than only pretending to be someone
swindler
vscounterfeiter
15 5.4

A person who tricks people to take their money

makes illegal copies of items specifically to pass them as genuine
forger
vscounterfeiter
  • NSFW
13 6.3

A person who makes fake money, documents, or art to trick people

focuses on copying money and items rather than broader deception methods
coiner
vscounterfeiter
  • Archaic
9.9

A person who makes fake coins to pass as real

focuses on producing illegal copies of money and items to deceive others
flimflammer
vscounterfeiter
  • Archaic
9.9

A person who cheats others with tricks or fake deals

focuses on making illegal copies, not short trick based scams
clip artist
vscounterfeiter
  • Offensive
9.6

A person who cheats or overcharges people to get money

creates illegal copies rather than cheating through dishonest billing

How Illegal

forger
  • NSFW
13 6.3
counterfeiter
13 7.5
faker
  • Offensive
15 5.2
copyist
1 7.7

Surface Forms

counterfeiter singular

Morphology

counterfeiter = counterfeit (transparent) = counterfeit + er

The agentive suffix '-er' attaches to the verb 'counterfeit' to produce 'person who counterfeits', a straightforward and predictable derivation.

Etymology

Counterfeiter comes from old parts contra 'against' and facere 'to make', and it originally meant 'made in imitation', or a copy that looks real. So a counterfeiter is someone who makes fake money, documents, or art to trick people.