mountebank

¹moun·te·bank

noun \ˈmau̇n-ti-ˌbaŋk\

Definition of MOUNTEBANK

1

: a person who sells quack medicines from a platform

2

: a boastful unscrupulous pretender : charlatan

— moun·te·bank·ery \-ˌbaŋ-k(ə-)rē\ noun

Examples of MOUNTEBANK

1. a gang of swindlers and mountebanks
2. <claimed that many doctors were frauds and mountebanks>

Origin of MOUNTEBANK

Italian montimbanco, from montare to mount + in in, on + banco, banca bench

First Known Use: 1577

Related to MOUNTEBANK

Synonyms

charlatan, fake, faker, fakir, fraud, hoaxer, humbug, impostor, phony (also phoney), pretender, quack, quacksalver, ringer, sham

Related Words

copycat, imitator, impersonator, mimic; actor, bluffer, counterfeiter, deceiver, dissembler, duper, feigner, misleader, operator, trickster; poseur; cozener, defrauder, dodger, fraudster [chiefly British], scammer, scamster, sharper, sharpie (or sharpy), skinner, swindler

Near Antonyms

ace, adept, authority, crackerjack (also crackajack), expert, maestro, master, past master, professional, virtuoso, whiz, wizard

Rhymes with MOUNTEBANK

central bank, data bank, draw a blank, national bank, piggy bank, reserve bank, riverbank, walk the plank

²mountebank

verb

Definition of MOUNTEBANK

transitive verb

obsolete

: to beguile or transform by trickery <I'll mountebank their loves — Shakespeare>

intransitive verb

: to play the mountebank

First Known Use of MOUNTEBANK

1607

moun·te·bank

noun \ˈmau̇nt-i-ˌbaŋk\   (Medical Dictionary)

Medical Definition of MOUNTEBANK

: an itinerant hawker of pills and patent medicines especially from a platform : quack <bought an unction of a mountebank—Shak.>