as in to play
to pretend to be (what one is not) in appearance or behavior
likes to personate the man of the world, but he's still the small-town hick that he always was
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of personate
Till’s motifs swept though the ensemble, as horns, clarinets, bassoons, violin all had a chance to personate the character.
—
By Libby Hanssen, kansascity.com, 3 June 2017
By Libby Hanssen, kansascity.com, 3 June 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for personate
Verb
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During his free agency ahead of the 2024 season, Ohtani visited Toronto as one of his finalists but ultimately chose to stay in Southern California and play for the Dodgers.—
Nelson Espinal,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Oct. 2025
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Despite playing before halftime, Scheierman and Walsh were not put back on the court again until the final seconds.—
Jay King,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
Verb
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For another, the Creature is played by Jacob Elordi, who, like most actors who have convincingly impersonated Elvis Presley, is not exactly the Boris Karloff of his day.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
28 Oct. 2025
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The two meet at a performance at the Wisconsin State Fair, where assorted semi-amateurs get up to impersonate legends like Elvis and Buddy Holly and Barbra Streisand.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
27 Oct. 2025
Verb
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In the spirit of art imitating life, the episode calls attention to the proliferation of potentially toxic chemicals in the products many of us slather daily on our face, body and hair.—
Sandee LaMotte,
CNN Money,
21 Oct. 2025
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This provides my son with an opportunity to imitate me verbally and gesturally.—
Hannah Nwoko,
Parents,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The principal of a Chicago elementary school that employs a teacher who appeared to mock the assassination of Charlie Kirk apparently portrayed the educator as a victim amid backlash over her behavior.—
Louis Casiano,
FOXNews.com,
22 Oct. 2025
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He has already been known to privately mock conservative pastors.—
Rev. Nathan Empsall,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Pennywise has now been portrayed in a miniseries, two films, and now series, but only by two actors.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
23 Oct. 2025
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Prettejohn portrayed a young Princess Elizabeth in the sixth season of Netflix’s The Crown and will next be seen in the musical drama The Testament of Ann Lee from The Brutalist scribe Mona Fastvold, which premiered in Venice ahead of a Christmas Day release.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Jones was acting as an unofficial coach for the Lakers in 2023, per the documents.—
Madison E. Goldberg,
PEOPLE,
24 Oct. 2025
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That moment wasn’t your typical ‘kid acts impulsively and messes up the mission’ type of scene.—
Katie Campione,
Deadline,
23 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Personate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/personate. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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