faux-paranormal
|faux-par-a-nor-mal|
🇺🇸
/foʊ pærəˈnɔrməl/
🇬🇧
/fəʊ pærəˈnɔːməl/
appears supernatural but is fake
Etymology
'faux-paranormal' originates from French 'faux' (meaning 'false') combined with English 'paranormal' (formed from Greek prefix 'para-' + 'normal'), where 'faux' meant 'false' and 'para-' meant 'beside/alongside'.
'faux' is borrowed from French 'faux' (Old French 'fals'), while 'paranormal' is a modern English coinage from Greek 'para-' + Latin/English 'normal'; the compound 'faux-paranormal' is a recent English formation combining the French adjective with the English noun/adjective 'paranormal'.
Originally, 'paranormal' described phenomena beyond the normal; the compound 'faux-paranormal' developed to label items or events that mimic paranormal characteristics but are intentionally or demonstrably false.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
an occurrence, report, or event that appears paranormal but is actually false, staged, or explainable by normal means.
That photo turned out to be a faux-paranormal created with simple camera tricks.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Adjective 1
seeming to be paranormal or supernatural but actually fabricated, staged, or explained by natural causes; deliberately presented to look like paranormal phenomena.
The show featured several faux-paranormal investigations that were later revealed to be staged.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/12/23 18:59