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up vote 6 down vote favorite

What word should be used to fill in the blank?

We don't know whether a product is genuine or sham

means

The product's __ is unverified.

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at present would work – shinynewbike May 20 '11 at 6:29

5 Answers

up vote 14 down vote accepted

The word you are looking for is authenticity.

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up vote 10 down vote

“Provenance” is a great word for this use but maybe “authenticity” fits your specific example sentence a little better.

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up vote 4 down vote

since you mentioned the word already, you can try also genuineness

–noun
The quality of being genuine; authenticity.
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1  
No doubt genuineness is a valid word but it's klunky compared to authenticity. – AAT May 21 '11 at 22:42
@AAT hmm. curious comment. And how would "genuiness" be MORE klunky [sic] than "authenticity". If there was a "klunky"[sic]-ness factor; what would the "klunky"[sic]-ness factor of "genuiness" vs. "authenticity" – Paul Amerigo Pajo May 23 '11 at 0:43
3  
well, it is not as euphonious for one thing, because of that double n. Is that enough of a reason? – AAT May 25 '11 at 20:28
1  
@AAT in pronunciation I find three *n*s :) – ErikE Apr 19 '12 at 17:55
@AAT good point :) – Paul Amerigo Pajo Apr 20 '12 at 3:12
up vote 3 down vote

There are a couple words which come to my mind which work, which vary depending on exactly what "the product" is:

  • Authenticity - The product is what it says it is. "Kansas City Barbeque"
  • Efficacy - The product does what it says it does. "This barbeque will make your mouth water."
  • Veracity - The product is truthful, or product claims are truthful or have been verified. "The hottest barbeque in town."

There is some overlap in authentic (to be genuine) and veracious (to be truthful).

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up vote 2 down vote

Another common word I would use in this sentence would be "claim".

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