poseur

noun

po·​seur pō-ˈzər How to pronounce poseur (audio)
ˈpō-zər
Synonyms of poseurnext
: a person who pretends to be what they are not : an affected or insincere person

Examples of poseur in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Citing casual cultural interests risked being exposed as a poseur. Dan Greene, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026 The nature of the American political system propagates scads of lawyers and poseurs who blather on endlessly, promising everything and delivering little. Laura Washington, Chicago Tribune, 14 Jan. 2026 Nobody made videos in those primitive days, nobody except weird Brit poseurs and art freaks and thirsty postpunk eccentrics, so the network was forced to play them all. Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 16 Nov. 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 See All Example Sentences for poseur

Word History

Etymology

French, literally, poser, from poser

First Known Use

1869, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of poseur was in 1869

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Poseur.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poseur. Accessed 28 Jan. 2026.

Kids Definition

poseur

noun
po·​seur pō-ˈzər How to pronounce poseur (audio)
: a person who pretends to be what he or she is not

More from Merriam-Webster on poseur

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