impostor

impostor: impostor, faker, quack, mountebank, charlatan denote a person who makes pretensions to being someone or something that he is not or of being able to do something he cannot really do.

Impostor applies especially to one who passes himself off for someone else

{
there is an impostor abroad, who takes upon him the name of this young gentleman, and would willingly pass for him— Addison
}

However the word often serves as a general term for anyone who assumes a title, character, or profession that is not his own

{
charged that Kim II Sung was an impostor trading on the name of a legendary Korean resistance leader— Time
}

Faker applies to one who gives himself the appearance of being what, in character or in profession, he is not

{
the accused man is not insane, he is merely a clever faker
}

{
a hypocrite is a moral or religious faker
}

{
he is essentially a faker with a large contempt for the ignorance and gullibility of the American voter— Current Histor
}

Quack is the popular and con- temptous term for an ignorant, untrained, or unscrupulous practitioner of medicine or law or seller of remedies or treatments, and usually carries a strong implication of fraud or self-delusion

{
dishonesty is the raw material not of quacks only, but also, in great part, of dupes— Carlyle
}

{
one of the most notorious cancer-cure quacks of the day— JAMA
}

Mountebank sometimes suggests quackery, but it regularly suggests cheap and undignified efforts to win attention

{
political mountebanks
}

{
our Sabbaths, closed with mummery and buffoon; preaching and pranks will share the motley scene . . . God's worship and the mountebank between— Cowper
}

Charlatan applies to a writer, speaker, preacher, professor, or expert who covers his ignorance or lack of skill by pretentious, flashy, or magniloquent display

{
insolent, pretentious, and given to that reckless innovation for the sake of noise and show which was the essence of the charlatan— George Eliot
}

{
replaced by the charlatans and the rogues—by those without learning, without scruples, or both— Asher Moore
}

Analogous words: cheat, fraud, fake, humbug (see IMPOSTURE): deceiver, beguiler, misleader (see corresponding verbs at DECEIVE)

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Synonyms:

Deceiver, pretender, cheat, rogue, trickster, tricker, knave, hypocrite, Pharisee, quack, charlatan, mountebank, double-dealer

Look at other dictionaries:

impostor — IMPOSTÓR, OÁRE, impostori, oare, s.m. şi f. Persoană care caută să înşele, profitând de necunoştinţa sau de buna credinţă a oamenilor; şarlatan, mincinos. ♦ Persoană care caută să se substituie altcuiva (pentru a lucra, a profita în numele lui);… … Dicționar Român
Impostor — est un film américain réalisé par Gary Fleder, sorti en 2002 au cinéma et adapté d une nouvelle de Philip K. Dick. Impostor Données clés Réalisation Gary Fleder Scénario Caroline Case Ehren Kruger David Twohy Philip K. Dick (roman) Acteur … Wikipédia en Français
Impostor — Im*pos tor, n. [L. impostor a deceiver, fr. imponere to impose upon, deceive. See {Impone}.] One who imposes upon others; a person who assumes a character or title not his own, for the purpose of deception; a pretender. The fraudulent impostor… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
impostor — UK [ɪmˈpɒstə(r)] / US [ɪmˈpɑstər] or imposter UK / US noun [countable] Word forms impostor : singular impostor plural impostors someone who pretends to be someone else, in order to trick people … English dictionary
impostor — im·pos·tor or im·pos·ter /im päs tər/ n: one that assumes a false identity or title for the purpose of deception: impersonator Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996. impostor … Law dictionary
impostor — (n.) 1580s, from M.Fr. imposteur (16c.), from L.L. impostor, agent noun from impostus, collateral form of impositus, pp. of imponere place upon, impose upon, deceive, from assimilated form of in into, in, on, upon (see IN (Cf. in ) (2)) + ponere… … Etymology dictionary
impostor — |ô| adj. s. m. 1. Que ou aquele que diz ou faz imposturas. = EMBUSTEIRO, MENTIROSO, TRAPACEIRO ≠ HONESTO, HONRADO, LEAL 2. Que ou aquele que não demonstra os seus sentimentos. = FALSO, FINGIDO, HIPÓCRITA ≠ VERDADEIRO 3. Que ou aquele que se acha… … Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa
impostor — impostor, ra adjetivo,sustantivo masculino y femenino 1. Que se hace pasar por quien no es: El cobrador de la luz era un impostor … Diccionario Salamanca de la Lengua Española
impostor — impostor, ra (Del lat. impostor, ōris). 1. adj. Que atribuye falsamente a alguien algo. U. m. c. s.) 2. Que finge o engaña con apariencia de verdad. U. m. c. s.) 3. m. y f. Suplantador, persona que se hace pasar por quien no es … Diccionario de la lengua española
impostor — or imposter [im päs′tər] n. [Fr imposteur < LL impostor < pp. of L imponere: see IMPOSE] a person who deceives or cheats others, esp. by pretending to be someone or something that he or she is not SYN. QUACK2 … English World dictionary

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