pretender

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> Synonyms charlatan, fake, faker, fakir, fraud, hoaxer, humbug, mountebank, phony (also phoney), impostor, quack, quacksalver, ringer, shamRelated 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, swindlerNear Antonyms ace, adept, authority, crackerjack (also crackajack), expert, maestro, master, past master, professional, virtuoso, whiz, wizard