as in fraud
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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pretender
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
But the Bolts don't have enough pieces to go from pretenders to contenders.
—Robert Marvi, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pretender
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
But the Bolts don't have enough pieces to go from pretenders to contenders.
—Robert Marvi, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pretender
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pretender
Noun
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And the next pretext might not be crime; it might be supposed voter fraud, a phenomenon that is statistically almost non-existent.—
Elizabeth Goitein,
Time,
27 Sep. 2025
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But Giuliani accused the company again of contributing to voter fraud not long after on his radio show.—
Ross O'Keefe,
The Washington Examiner,
27 Sep. 2025
Noun
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His first throw was tantamount to a layup, a play-action fake to the right that sprung fullback Kyle Juszczyk wide open to the left.—
Matt Barrows,
New York Times,
29 Sep. 2025
-
Trump has since suggested the recording is a fake.—
Billal Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 Sep. 2025
Noun
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An entry-level sheet set from the brand will run you a minimum of $500 with the priciest shams ringing in at a cool $5,000.—
Audrey Lee,
Architectural Digest,
26 Sep. 2025
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In another study, people with migraines who used a handheld VNS device (gammaCore) on the side of their neck were significantly more likely to be pain-free within 30 minutes to an hour of VNS, compared to those receiving a sham (placebo) treatment.—
Clarissa Brincat,
Popular Science,
25 Sep. 2025
Noun
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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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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
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That’s until their cover in California Schemin’ as rapping imposters was blown and the emotional strain of denying their Scottishness and their fractured friendship revealed itself.—
Etan Vlessing,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Famously, the Wizard is a charlatan in every version of the text.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
30 Aug. 2025
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No matter the party affiliation, there’ll be charlatans claiming to care, while smooth-talking their way into the homes of hard-working people who struggle.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
15 July 2025
Noun
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To tell the truly venomous from the fakers, there are a couple details to help distinguish the two.—
Kirsten Fiscus,
Nashville Tennessean,
17 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Caricatured by Honoré Daumier and his lesser followers always as a mountebank, a charlatan, a circus clown, Louis Napoleon could normalize the extent of his outrages by the seeming harmlessness of his absurdities.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
13 June 2025
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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
Cite this Entry
“Pretender.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pretender. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
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