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
-
Rollins said federal authorities have made 900 arrests for SNAP fraud during the last year and recovered $132 million in restitution.—
Bart Jansen,
USA Today,
19 June 2026
-
The future involves building robust connectors between merchant systems and UCP, and developing new solutions for agent identity and fraud detection.—
Josipa Majic Predin,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2026
Noun
-
Each quilt comes with two matching shams to complete the look, and the bedding uses ultrasonic binding instead of stitching so the filling doesn’t shift.—
Brandi Fuller,
Better Homes & Gardens,
22 June 2026
-
The set also comes with two matching pillow shams for a cohesive look.—
Melody Kazel,
PEOPLE,
18 June 2026
Noun
-
Is the team a contender, a pretender or rebuilding?—
Law Murray,
New York Times,
18 May 2026
-
Now, hardship seems to be an end in itself, a battle scar or badge of honor that distinguishes true backpackers from mere pretenders.—
Tim Brinkhof,
Time,
4 May 2026
Noun
-
Others estimate that $500 billion in federal spending is diverted by charlatans each year.—
Las Vegas Review-Journal,
Twin Cities,
7 June 2026
-
To this day, a portion of the left-wing Democratic elite views Obama as a charlatan who hoodwinked their voters into supporting him.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Maclean’s work traffics in deep fakes and glitch aesthetics, rainbow cuteness and the tropes of pulp—but these are set against violent dystopias and a world of cruelties borne, especially, by women (see her 2018 video Make Me Up as an example).—
Eugenie Brinkema,
ARTnews.com,
14 June 2026
-
Thirty-four years having passed since the last go-round, we are treated to such modern advances as catfishing, drones, deep fakes, social media and pushy true-crime podcasters.—
Robert Lloyd,
Los Angeles Times,
4 June 2026
Noun
-
The actors are perfectly cast, starting with Marmaï’s likable Antoine, the only player here not being the deceiver.—
Pete Hammond,
Deadline,
12 May 2026
-
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
Noun
-
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
-
But let’s circle back to TV‘s patron saint of affable, oft–insidious quacks.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
16 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Savannah continues to ask the public for help locating her missing mother, while an imposter who sent fraudulent ransom demands has been arrested.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
22 June 2026
-
When news of Israel’s secret outposts in Iraq’s desert emerged, Iraqis admonished their leaders as traitors, and the boisterous militiamen affiliated with the government as impostors for allowing their land to be colonized by an enemy.—
Nabil Salih,
Time,
26 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mountebank.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mountebank. Accessed 25 Jun. 2026.
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