as in frauds
one who makes false claims of identity or expertise
it turns out that the guy who claimed to work for a modeling agency was just a pretender
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Recent Examples of pretenders
Week 9 of the college football season separated some contenders from pretenders.
—
Jordan Sigler, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Oct. 2025
The contenders, pretenders and everybody in between.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 25 Sep. 2025
Adjustments will be made, and by November and December, there will be a much clearer picture of who the contenders and pretenders are.
—Mark Lasota, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
Crazy as this sport is, all four teams might be pretenders.
—Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2025
Jordan Sigler, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Oct. 2025
The contenders, pretenders and everybody in between.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 25 Sep. 2025
Adjustments will be made, and by November and December, there will be a much clearer picture of who the contenders and pretenders are.
—Mark Lasota, Forbes.com, 16 Sep. 2025
Crazy as this sport is, all four teams might be pretenders.
—Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pretenders
Noun
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Notice how these two Third World frauds are in federal custody, not state.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
24 Oct. 2025
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In the knee-jerk world of modern football, yesterday’s world-beaters are tomorrow’s frauds.—
James Pearce,
New York Times,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Numerous fakes — most bearing watermarks for OpenAI’s text-to-video model Sora — have appeared online showing fake scenarios like severe flooding, images of sharks and people partying.—
Hannah Parry,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Oct. 2025
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Advertisement There were also fakes following the four-day India-Pakistan conflict in May.—
Brady Africk,
Time,
27 Oct. 2025
Noun
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For a bedding refresh, this duvet cover set is available in 26 colors and includes matching shams.—
Rachel Trujillo,
PEOPLE,
26 Oct. 2025
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This three-piece set from Chezmoi Collection includes a bedspread and two matching shams that resist pilling, shrinking, and thinning over time, all while regulating temperature to prevent overheating.—
Mariana Best,
Better Homes & Gardens,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
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McKelway, who wrote for the magazine from the nineteen-thirties to the sixties, specialized in true-crime stories, bringing to life a gallery of scamps and swindlers and impostors.—
David Grann,
New Yorker,
19 Oct. 2025
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By the finale, the galactic chessboard is crowded with players—emperors, rebels, prophets, impostors—but as Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) warned in the very first episode, the center cannot hold.—
JP Mangalindan,
Time,
12 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pretenders.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pretenders. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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