ψευδοφαντασμένος

An adjective in the description of a man who had no saving graces, who was a poisonous viper, a wart on the face, a mosquito who sucks blood from your neck. To translate a compound adjective would I have to say here 'phoney and conceited'? An easy question, perhaps, for a change.

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At first sight, yes.

But you know what they say about translators saying: "That depends on the context."

Conceited, yes, but for a very sleazy reason —or for no reason at all.

Context is 'ήταν ολοφάνερο ότι ήταν ελεεινός χαρακτήρας. Επιπρόσθετα, ήταν κουμαρτζής, καυγατζής, πότης, ψευδοφαντασμένος.

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That "ψευδο-" (pseudo-) looks a bit... conceited next to "κουμαρτζής" and "καβγατζής." I would prefer "ψευτο-" to avoid mixing high hats with caps in hand.

As for the meaning, "ψευτο-" is probably augmenting "φαντασμένος" here, since "pseudo-" could be read as cancelling "conceited," like "ψευτοαριστοκράτης" would mean a phoney aristocrat, someone who pretends to be an aristocrat but isn't.

Ergo, Earion has it. Your "phoney and conceited" does the job very well for me, since it conveys the actual meaning by breaking down the compound.

A combination of ψευτοπερήφανος and ψωροφαντασμένος, perhaps.

full of airs and graces?

"false ways of behaving that are intended to make other people feel that you are important and belong to a high social class": Cambridge English Dictionary.

Maybe even, "pretentious" (=phony/phoney and conceited), perhaps in combination with fraud/bastard/low life, etc.? :)

A pretentious fraud.

Thanks for all the suggestions & I was naive enough to think the question was simple! What is the difference between ψευτο- & ψευδο- in compounds?

ψευτο- is more colloquial whereas ψευδο- is more formal. A difference in style.

In a scientific or technical word, for example, such as ψευδοπόδια (=pseudopods) or ψευδοροφή (=suspended ceiling), you would use ψευδο-, never ψεύτο-.
In a colloquialism, such as ψευτοπράματα (=trifles), ψευτοθόδωρος (=liar), you would use ψευτο-.

Otherwise I do not think there is a difference, both mean "false", as far as I understand it.

I think that "ψευδοφαντασμένος" could be interpreted as being "unjustifiably conceited", i.e., he really had nothing to be conceited about. (Which I now realize is basically restating what Earion had posted above).

Since there are so many interesting replies, I thought it maybe worthwhile to give the whole piece:-
Είχε μάτια στενά, μακρυά λεπτή μύτη και μεγάλα λεπτά χείλη. Στην κουβέντα του έδειχνε να είναι σκυθρωπός ή καταφορτωμένος απ' άλυτα προβλήματα και φιλοσοφικές σκέψεις. Στην πραγματικότητα όμως ο Μακρής ήταν μια φοβερή, δηλητηριώδης οχιά, που παρακολουθεί πρώτα, ύστερα ετοιμάζεται, και τελικά επιτίθεται αμείλικτα κατα του θύματος. Ήταν ολοφάνερο ότι ήταν ένας ελεεινός χαρακτήρας. Επιπρόσθετα, ήταν κουμαρτζής, καυγατζής, πότης και ψευδοφαντασμένος. Πασίγνωστος ως τέτοιος στον υπόκοσμο, άγνωστος στον καλό, συνετό κόσμο. Κατα την διάρκεια του πολέμου απέφευγε να υπηρετήσει στον στρατό προσποιούμενος ότι έπασχε με την καρδιά του ή κάτι τέτοιο. Δεν εφαίνετο να ήξερε κανένα επάγγελμα ούτε να δουλεύει πουθενά. Η δουλειά του ήταν να γυρίζει άσκοπα όλες τι τις γωνιές της Αθήνας και να καταβαίνει απρόσκλητος εκεί που δεν ήταν αρεστός. Ήταν ένα παράσιτο, μια κρεατοελιά στο πρόσωπο, ένα κουνούπι που κάθεται στο σβέρκο σου και πίνει το αίμα σου.
Not the ideal CV. On second thoughts perhaps it is nowadays.:devil::down:

Conceited for reasons unclear to others.

Thanks for all the suggestions & items of discussion. The more I read, the more I feel confident. I'm still struggling with the conversational course: all the ones I have have very limited conversational material & extensive grammatical explanation, with exercises that make even the telephone directory interesting, besides, I learn very little from translating Enlish into Greek, since conversation is racy & quick with sundry fillers while the exercises do not help fluency at all. You have to get out of the habit of thinking in English, since conversation involves a readiness to come up with the right phrase in Greek without the medium of English.

nickel said:

Conceited for reasons unclear to others.

Click to expand...

That could describe someone with false pride, who is falsely proud, i.e.,someone who has an inflated opinion of himself... I'm trying to bring "ψευτο/pseudo/false/fraud/phoney" into play.

We have "foolish pride", therefore "foolishly conceited" might very well do the job.

nickel said:

We have "foolish pride", therefore "foolishly conceited" might very well do the job.

Click to expand...

I agree with foolishly proud and foolishly conceited or unduly proud/conceited.

...and being falsely proud is the same as being unduly/unjustifiably conceited! So we have this covered.

I'm trying to retain "false/ψευτο".

from vocab.com
False pride:
the trait of being unduly vain and conceited ... plus we're retaining "false".