偽
falsehood, lie, deceive, pretend, counterfeit, forgery
Readings
On'yomi
- ギ
- カ
Kun'yomi
- いつわ.る
- にせ
- いつわ.り
Meaning
偽 centers on intentional deception: presenting something false as true, whether through lying, pretending, or creating a counterfeit. The meanings all share the idea of a deliberate misrepresentation.
Most common words using 偽
20 of 108- 偽にせN1
imitation; fake; phony; counterfeit; forged; bogus; sham
- 偽物にせものN2
spurious article; forgery; counterfeit; imitation; sham
- 偽装ぎそうN1
camouflage; disguise
- 偽造ぎぞうN1
forgery; counterfeiting; fabrication; falsification
- 偽りいつわり
lie; falsehood; fiction; fabrication
- 虚偽きょぎ
falsehood; untruth; lie; misinformation
- 偽善ぎぜん
hypocrisy
- 偽るいつわる
to lie; to pretend; to feign; to falsify
- 偽名ぎめい
false name; alias; assumed name; pseudonym
- 真偽しんぎN1
truth or falsehood; genuineness; authenticity; veracity
- 偽者にせもの
impostor; imposter; pretender; liar
- 偽証ぎしょう
false evidence; perjury; false testimony
- 偽札にせさつN3
counterfeit (paper) money; counterfeit bill; counterfeit note
- 偽札ぎさつ
counterfeit bill; counterfeit note
- 偽証罪ぎしょうざい
crime of perjury
- 偽計ぎけい
deceptive plan
- 偽薬ぎやく
placebo
- 偽書ぎしょ
spurious letter; apocryphal book; forgery
- 偽作ぎさく
apocryphal work; forgery; spurious article
- コンゴ偽面梟コンゴにせめんふくろう
Tanzanian bay owl (Phodilus prigoginei); Congo bay owl
Study
Etymology
偽 combines 亻 (person) with 為, which historically relates to doing or making. The compound suggests a person making something that is not genuine, i.e., falsifying. The exact phonetic role of 為 is uncertain, but the semantic link to human action is clear.
Meaning mnemonic
A person 亻 beside 為 (which looks like a hand guiding an elephant in some interpretations, but here just think of it as 'doing'). Imagine a person doing something sneaky—crafting a fake object or telling a lie—so 偽 means falsehood.
Reading mnemonic
For ギ, picture a person wearing a disguise with a big fake **gear** on their shoulder: gear -> ギ, and the gear is part of the counterfeit costume.