as in fraud
one who makes false claims of identity or expertise
the famed faith healer turned out to be a charlatan
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of charlatan
Macfadyen’s Guiteau is an obvious charlatan; a man so easy to peg as a bad seed that a bank manager remembers him from a single confrontation five years earlier.
—
Ben Travers, IndieWire, 6 Nov. 2025
The 1886 hotel was once an experimental hospital set up by infamous charlatan Norman Baker.
—Noreen Kompanik, Boston Herald, 26 Oct. 2025
Malcolm McDowell is a sneering charlatan, Scout Taylor-Compton is a one-note screaming victim, and Tyler Mane offers nothing new.
—Chris Snellgrove, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Oct. 2025
Famously, the Wizard is a charlatan in every version of the text.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 30 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for charlatan
Ben Travers, IndieWire, 6 Nov. 2025
The 1886 hotel was once an experimental hospital set up by infamous charlatan Norman Baker.
—Noreen Kompanik, Boston Herald, 26 Oct. 2025
Malcolm McDowell is a sneering charlatan, Scout Taylor-Compton is a one-note screaming victim, and Tyler Mane offers nothing new.
—Chris Snellgrove, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Oct. 2025
Famously, the Wizard is a charlatan in every version of the text.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 30 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for charlatan
Recent Examples of Synonyms for charlatan
Noun
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Sean McMorris, transparency, ethics and accountability program manager with California Common Cause, a nonpartisan government watchdog, said in an email Friday that heavy reliance on outside vendors can increase the risk of fraud or mismanagement if oversight is weak.—
Teresa Liu,
Daily News,
18 Apr. 2026
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DeviantArt’s Protect feature uses state-of-the-art image recognition to help safeguard creators’ work against unauthorized use, and the platform employs a dedicated team to investigate and mitigate the impact from spam, scams, fraud, and other bad actors.—
The Editors of ARTnews,
ARTnews.com,
17 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The set includes shams, is made of cotton, and is filled with a hypoallergenic polyester blend that’s safe for those with sensitive skin.—
Jacqueline Tempera,
Better Homes & Gardens,
9 Apr. 2026
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Plus, the matching shams are also on sale in the outlet for a budget-friendly bedding update.—
Caley Sturgill,
Southern Living,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
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McEnelly played defense the rest of the way, mixing in fakes where needed to keep Welsh at bay.—
Twin Cities,
Twin Cities,
22 Mar. 2026
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People may just give up on trying to sort the real from the fake.—
Nick Dothée,
The Atlantic,
22 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The alliance successfully supported Maria Cristiana, who was acting as regent for Isabella II in Spain and had allied herself with the liberals against the pretender Don Carlos in the First Carlist War (1833–39).—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
2 Apr. 2026
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These two pretenders reflect an insider debate whose subject is not the existence of the Islamic Republic but the best method of its survival.—
Karim Sadjadpour,
The Atlantic,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
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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
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But let’s circle back to TV‘s patron saint of affable, oft–insidious quacks.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
16 Dec. 2025
Noun
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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
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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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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
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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
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
Cite this Entry
“Charlatan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/charlatan. Accessed 19 Apr. 2026.
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