as in fraud
one who makes false claims of identity or expertise
claimed that many doctors were frauds and mountebanks
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Recent Examples of mountebank
Good afternoon and welcome to Con Con, the convention for swindlers, mountebanks, and the people who love them.
—
Henry Alford, New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2025
Godard might have come across as a species of poseur – a pretentious, quote-spouting mountebank – but his way of seeing was genuinely new.
—Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor, 13 Nov. 2025
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
Gould observed that Jerry Falwell had taken up the mountebank’s mission of William Jennings Bryan.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2024
Now, this pallid Color Purple epitomizes the artistic dearth of an era when a cultural mountebank like Winfrey uses race and feminist guile to cheat us of America’s most creative achievements.
—Armond White, National Review, 3 Jan. 2024
The alternative circumstance, that crackpots and mountebanks might claim such evidence exists, then fail to produce any, is, on the other hand, entirely plausible and familiar.
—Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 31 July 2023
Henry Alford, New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2025
Godard might have come across as a species of poseur – a pretentious, quote-spouting mountebank – but his way of seeing was genuinely new.
—Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor, 13 Nov. 2025
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
Gould observed that Jerry Falwell had taken up the mountebank’s mission of William Jennings Bryan.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2024
Now, this pallid Color Purple epitomizes the artistic dearth of an era when a cultural mountebank like Winfrey uses race and feminist guile to cheat us of America’s most creative achievements.
—Armond White, National Review, 3 Jan. 2024
The alternative circumstance, that crackpots and mountebanks might claim such evidence exists, then fail to produce any, is, on the other hand, entirely plausible and familiar.
—Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 31 July 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mountebank
Noun
-
Broderick asked whether the government picked the five states first and then did research into whether there were fraud claims there.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
24 Jan. 2026
-
According to the indictment, Brett Rosen also regularly used the site to defend himself against accusations of fraud and market manipulation at least as early as 2021.—
Alex Riggins,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The reversible set includes a duvet cover and matching shams, available in multiple sizes and a range of soft pastel hues.—
Jacquelyn McGilvray,
PEOPLE,
22 Jan. 2026
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Let’s be fair for a moment — or at least as fair as this sham of a process deserves.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
21 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The Cult of the Beaver has to fend off pretenders.—
AJ Willingham,
AJC.com,
13 Jan. 2026
-
Advertisement Iranians deserve better than the Pahlavi pretender.—
Bobby Ghosh,
Time,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
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First up was Ben Shapiro, who described Tucker Carlson and others as grifters and charlatans, guilty of misleading their audiences with falsehoods and conspiracy theories.—
Jonathan J. Cooper,
Fortune,
19 Dec. 2025
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Of course, there is also plenty of Trump flattery along with paeans to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his cockamamie make-America-sick-again agenda, as one medical charlatan nods to another.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Mercury News,
10 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Too sweet to be true, he is seen as a corporate fake marketed to children by The Man.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
24 Jan. 2026
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In the meantime, prepare and arm your self and your company to better spot the fakes—start with video.—
Dean DeBiase,
Forbes.com,
24 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The film tells the true and twisted tale of a deceiver of land and folk, who, defying her birth as a woman, comported herself as a man and committed many a wicked deed.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
20 Jan. 2026
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Islamic eschatology warned of a deceiver who distorts perception, blurring reality.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
15 Aug. 2025
Noun
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But when a patient recognizes him from his dangerous past, Brown has eight hours to elude the government, mob hitmen, quack surgeons, and a trail of dead gangers to beat the reaper somehow.—
Rosy Cordero,
Deadline,
18 Dec. 2025
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But let’s circle back to TV‘s patron saint of affable, oft–insidious quacks.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
16 Dec. 2025
Noun
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In such places – and especially when the would-be ally’s role is highly visible and entails heavy responsibility – people are vulnerable to impostor feelings.—
John M. LaVelle,
The Conversation,
9 Dec. 2025
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Now, artificial intelligence has become the latest battleground for digital impostors.—
Staff,
FOXNews.com,
28 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mountebank.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mountebank. Accessed 26 Jan. 2026.
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