pseudo-

{{Short description|Greek prefix: false}}

{{For|the novel with the original title Pseudo|Hocus Bogus}}

{{wiktionary|pseudo-|ψευδής}}

Pseudo- (from {{langx|el|ψευδής}}, {{translit|grc|pseudés}} {{gloss|false}}) is a prefix used in a number of languages, often to mark something as a fake or insincere version.{{cite journal | last=Lehrer | first=Adrienne | title=Prefixes in English Word Formation | journal=Folia Linguistica | volume=29 | issue=1-2 | date=1995 | issn=0165-4004 | doi=10.1515/flin.1995.29.1-2.133 | page=}}

In English, the prefix is used on both nouns and adjectives. It can be considered a privative prefix specifically denoting disproximation, i.e. that the resulting word refers to something that has moved away from the core meaning of the base that the prefix is added to.{{cite journal | last=Cappelle | first=Bert | last2=Daugs | first2=Robert | last3=Hartmann | first3=Stefan | title=The English privative prefixes near-, pseudo- and quasi-: Approximation and 'disproximation' | journal=Zeitschrift für Wortbildung / Journal of Word Formation | volume=7 | issue=1 | date=2023-04-01 | issn=2367-3877 | doi=10.21248/zwjw.2023.1.35 | page=}} The meaning is the same in French and Greek, but in Greek it also attaches to other word classes such as verbs and adverbs.{{cite journal | last=Vassiliadou | first=Hélène | last2=Gerhard-Krait | first2=Francine | last3=Fotiadou | first3=Georgia | last4=Lammert | first4=Marie | title=Pseudo(-) in French and Greek: Categorization and approximation | journal=Zeitschrift für Wortbildung / Journal of Word Formation | volume=7 | issue=1 | date=2023-04-01 | issn=2367-3877 | doi=10.21248/zwjw.2023.1.34 | page=| doi-access=free }}