The frequent word in The Catcher in the Rye that means dishonest or fake about who someone is is “phony.”
Holden Caulfield repeatedly uses “phony” for people, behavior, and institutions he sees as insincere, hypocritical, shallow, or overly concerned with appearances. The word is central to his narration and helps establish his distrust of the adult world around him.
“Phony” is not simply a synonym for someone who tells one lie. In Holden’s vocabulary, it can describe social performance, pretension, emotional falseness, or a person who seems to act unlike their real self. His judgments are often exaggerated, however, and the novel shows that Holden himself can be evasive, contradictory, and performative.
That tension matters: the word expresses Holden’s desire for authenticity while also revealing his immaturity and pain. “Snowing” is another slang term appearing in the novel, but it means deceiving or fooling someone, not the broader quality Holden calls “phony.”