meaning - What is the difference between saying a person is genuine, and saying a person is authentic?


I understand that the words genuine and authentic differ in some scenarios.


For example, if we say that a designer bag is genuine then it is not a replica; and if we say that an Italian restaurant is authentic, then the food is made the Italian way. But in English, we do not say that a designer bag is authentic and an Italian restaurant is genuine. We say that a cold caller is genuine if he's not scamming, and that a radio advert is authentic if the statements it makes are true. But we do not say a cold caller is authentic and a radio advert is genuine.


So when using an adjective to describe a person, not a specific behaviour they exhibit, but a person, what is the difference in calling a person authentic, and calling them genuine?


Example



"You're such a genuine person Molly!" Meena told her


"You're such an authentic person Molly!" Meena told her



What difference in meaning is conveyed by the two sentences?



Answer



AHD gives a sense for genuine that on consideration is seen to require a sentient being as referent:



3a. Honestly felt or experienced: genuine devotion



and one that even more clearly must refer to a person:




  1. Free from hypocrisy or dishonesty; sincere: Is he being genuine in making these compliments?



while RHK Webster's [op cit] combines these senses:




  1. free from pretense, affectation, or hypocrisy; sincere: genuine admiration; [he is clearly genuine]



The closest approach to these senses the above dictionaries make when it comes to authentic is



Conforming to fact and therefore worthy of trust, reliance, or belief



which obviously if taken strictly (conforming to fact ...) precludes a human referent.


............


I'd say that the usages of 'authentic' have been broadened, patterning on 'genuine', to include human referents, but that this usage is still rather jarring (perhaps intentionally, to avoid cliché). 'An authentic guy can teach you a lot about being genuine.' {The Whole Guy Thing: What Every Girl Needs to Know about Crushes, Friendship ... by Nancy N. Rue}


'Authentic' still at least connotes quite strongly something tangible produced faithfully (eg 'an authentic document'), leaving 'genuine' the more standard choice for a person.


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