variants
or imposter
as in pretender
one who makes false claims of identity or expertise
the man who claimed to be a prince turned out to be an impostor
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of impostor
Zoom out: Nationally, investment and impostor scams took the biggest financial tolls last year, the FTC says, with consumers losing $5.7 billion and nearly $3 billion to each, respectively.
—
Alex Fitzpatrick, Axios, 1 Apr. 2025
Legitimate candidates face tougher hurdles while impostors glide through.
—Jack Kelly, Forbes.com, 11 Apr. 2025
The success of the impostor scam illuminates another reason criminals are able to bilk Americans today.
—Alana Semuels, TIME, 18 Sep. 2024
These kinds of supportive environments can reduce impostor feelings and create space for growth.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 14 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impostor
Alex Fitzpatrick, Axios, 1 Apr. 2025
Legitimate candidates face tougher hurdles while impostors glide through.
—Jack Kelly, Forbes.com, 11 Apr. 2025
The success of the impostor scam illuminates another reason criminals are able to bilk Americans today.
—Alana Semuels, TIME, 18 Sep. 2024
These kinds of supportive environments can reduce impostor feelings and create space for growth.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 14 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impostor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impostor
Noun
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That’s where discipline separates professionals from pretenders.—
Jim Osman,
Forbes.com,
25 May 2025
-
Sorting the contenders from pretenders Here’s a quick rundown of where every team stands after the Jets eked out a Game 5 win over the upstart Blues last night in whiteout Winnipeg.—
James Mirtle,
New York Times,
1 May 2025
Noun
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For them, the Nazarene is not a charlatan, but an upright man, one who has courage, who speaks well and says the right things, like other great prophets in the history of Israel.—
Daniel Burke,
NPR,
9 May 2025
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It was bought for $40,000 in 1937 by medical charlatan Norman Baker.—
Jack Schnedler,
Arkansas Online,
5 May 2025
Noun
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Maybe the cows were fakes, or sold, moved somewhere or their tags were changed.—
Hugh Cameron,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 May 2025
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Unfortunately, we were deprived of all those fake idols getting played because players kept leaving the game with fakes in their pockets, socks, and bags.—
Dalton Ross,
EW.com,
15 May 2025
Noun
-
The actor recalled seeing their accompanying Secret Service personnel.—
Madison E. Goldberg,
People.com,
22 May 2025
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Here’s how May 20, 2025 Other must reads 2025 Emmy predictions: Who could win for best drama actress, best drama actor and best drama series?—
Hailey Branson-Potts,
Los Angeles Times,
21 May 2025
Noun
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With tariffs on pharmaceuticals, the mountebank of Mar-A-Lago wants to punish a small democracy of 5.3 million people that for the past 60 years has worked its way into the top table of drug research and production: Ireland.—
Kevin Rennie,
Hartford Courant,
29 Mar. 2025
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Gould observed that Jerry Falwell had taken up the mountebank’s mission of William Jennings Bryan.—
Michael Hiltzik,
Los Angeles Times,
26 July 2024
Noun
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The Spare Room by Helen Garner This is a book about a woman, Helen, who decides to let her old friend, Nicola, who is dying of cancer, come and stay with her in Melbourne while Nicola sees a local quack doctor.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
21 May 2025
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And this is why hydropathy was not like many of the other quack medical therapies of the not-quite-modern era.—
John Jeremiah Sullivan,
Harpers Magazine,
29 Apr. 2025
Noun
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For a Gen X-er raised on movies that skewered phonies and wannabes, the thought of being a poser was, in the end, far more offensive to his sensibilities than being potentially bland.—
Rachel Syme,
The New Yorker,
23 Dec. 2024
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The answer is important because being a phony is hard work.—
LaRae Quy,
Forbes,
20 Dec. 2024
Noun
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What did Todd and Julie Chrisley go to prison for? After nearly a decade on air, the pair faced legal trouble for a number of bank and tax fraud offenses.—
Solcyré Burga,
Time,
28 May 2025
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On Monday, the president pardoned Scott Jenkins, a former Virginia sheriff, who was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted on charges of conspiracy, fraud and bribery.—
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Impostor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impostor. Accessed 2 Jun. 2025.
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