That shop sells nothing but fake brand-name goods.
laughable affair; unreliable thing; sham
sham; fraud; counterfeit; impostor; pretender
distant, disinterested parent
pseudo-scholar; fake scholar; would-be expert
sophistry; specious reasoning; false logic
Katakana spelling is common and matches usual-kana usage; the hiragana reading is えせ.
Hiragana spelling is also used, though katakana is more typical for this prefix.
Kanji form is rarely used; learners will almost always encounter the kana spellings.
Very rare kanji form; it is rarely used.
The origin is uncertain. It may be related to the classical Japanese adjective えせし (eseshi) meaning 'poor' or 'inferior', but the exact derivation is unclear.