impersonate

play

verb im·per·son·ate \im-ˈpər-sə-ˌnāt\

Definition of impersonate

impersonated

;

impersonating

transitive verb
: to assume or act the character of : personate

impersonation

play \im-ˌpər-sə-ˈnā-shən\ noun

impersonator

play \im-ˈpər-sə-ˌnā-tər\ noun

See impersonate defined for English-language learners

See impersonate defined for kids

Examples of impersonate in a Sentence

He was arrested for impersonating a police officer.
a comedian with a talent for impersonating famous politicians and actors

Recent Examples of impersonate from the Web

Many of the anti-net neutrality comments were submitted by spam bots impersonating people whose names and addresses were taken from data breaches.

— jon brodkin, Ars Technica, "Ajit Pai not concerned about number of pro-net neutrality comments," 14 July 2017
Some of his original music was quite catchy, but then the show quickly turned into Feldman impersonating Michael Jackson.

— amy bartner, Indianapolis Star, "5 local celebrities saw Corey Feldman perform in Indy; this is what they thought," 11 July 2017
Matthew Chantelois has traveled as far as Mexico and Hawaii to impersonate Elvis Presley, but on Saturday, the Dearborn resident didn’t have to go very far to be the King.

— hasan dudar, Detroit Free Press, "The 'Kings' rock the stage at Michigan Elvisfest in Ypsilanti," 8 July 2017
Their attorney pointed out it’s against the law to impersonate a soldier of the United States.

— john wilkens, sandiegouniontribune.com, "San Diego historian tells the story of World War I through the eyes of America's first women soldiers," 2 July 2017
Once Horton was positively identified by the victim, he was taken to the Marshall County Jail on felony charges of impersonating a peace officer and second-degree kidnapping.

— ashley remkus, AL.com, "Man pretending to be 'special agent' accused of kidnapping 19-year-old woman," 26 June 2017
Mike comes up and says (impersonating Tyson) ‘ya so crazy.’

— rick bentley, star-telegram.com, "Game show, check. Meaty movie role, check. Terrell’s Jamie Foxx is hot stuff this summer," 22 June 2017
And when Melissa McCarthy impersonated Spicer on Saturday Night Live, Trump was (reportedly) disgusted that his press secretary could be so convincingly caricatured by a woman.

— eric levitz, Daily Intelligencer, "Bannon: Press Briefings Were Moved Off Camera Because ‘Sean Got Fatter’," 20 June 2017
Police are investigating whether the teens impersonated officers and pulled over drivers.

— Washington Post, "Teen police volunteers steal LAPD cars, patrol Los Angeles," 15 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'impersonate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of impersonate

1715

IMPERSONATE Defined for English Language Learners

impersonate

play

verb

Definition of impersonate for English Language Learners

: to pretend to be (another person)

IMPERSONATE Defined for Kids

impersonate

play

verb im·per·son·ate \im-ˈpər-sə-ˌnāt\

Definition of impersonate for Students

impersonated

;

impersonating

: to pretend to be another person

Law Dictionary

impersonate

play

transitive verb im·per·son·ate \im-ˈpər-sə-ˌnāt\

Legal Definition of impersonate

impersonated

impersonating

: to assume (another's or a fictitious identity) without authority and with fraudulent intent impersonate a police officer impersonated a public servant by saying he was from the water department