fakir

noun

Definition of fakirnext
1
as in dodger
a dishonest person who uses clever means to cheat others out of something of value a traveling carnival that was run by fakirs preying on small-town rubes

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in sham
one who makes false claims of identity or expertise a fakir peddling patent medicines that were mostly liquor and sugar

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of fakir And there were posters tearing apart his otherworldly self-projection as a fakir, or ascetic, depicting him in his monogrammed suits, designer sunglasses, and aircraft. — Asim Ali, Time, 1 Aug. 2026 Almost a fakir, a legend like that. — Literary Hub, 31 Mar. 2026 Bankman-Fried has refined the persona of a dishevelled, savantlike techno-fakir. — Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 8 Aug. 2022 To be fair, the new nationalists have done their best, explicitly and repeatedly, to distance their emerging movement from white nationalists, alt-right fakirs, strident isolationists, and other assorted cranks. — John Hood, National Review, 28 Aug. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fakir
  1. dodger
  2. sham
  3. cheat
  4. fake
  5. shark
  6. pretender
  7. fraud
  8. charlatan
Noun
  • The White House is now cracking down on these tariff dodgers.
    — Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Ukraine faces severe personnel shortages with around 200,000 military desertions and 2 million draft-dodgers, threatening its ability to sustain the war against Russia’s 2022 invasion.
    — Kirsten Grieshaber, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2026
Definition of dodger
Noun
  • Critics dismissed the polls, held in phases in December and January, as a sham designed to consolidate the military’s grip on power while ostensibly restoring civilian rule.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Filling Decorative Pillow Shams Decorative pillow shams in guest bedrooms that get little use offer an easy way to repurpose old towels.
    — Olivia McIntosh, Martha Stewart, 16 Aug. 2026
Definition of sham
Noun
  • In the end, my cheat-code pie crust worked just fine and all was well.
    — Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 24 July 2026
  • Both trail Messi by two goals in the Golden Boot race, and perhaps the fact that Tuchel has two cheat codes as opposed to one gives him the upper hand.
    — Mark Hodge, NBC news, 15 July 2026
Definition of cheat
Noun
  • The second-round pass rusher made aggressive mistakes, falling twice for option fakes and overrunning a screen pass early.
    — Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 15 Aug. 2026
  • The flip side • Kudos to Finland for educating students in how to discern AI deep fakes!
    — Ticked Off, The Orlando Sentinel, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of fake
Noun
  • In one shot, the spikes of a stegosaurus’s tail, poking out over a row of foliage, wittily suggest a shark’s fin breaking the surface.
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Megalodons were the largest predatory sharks in Earth's history, and went extinct around 4 million years ago.
    — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of shark
Noun
  • The transfer portal can transform a contender into a pretender in a single offseason.
    — Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 6 Aug. 2026
  • The schedule is forgivable, even by ACC standards, but a rematch on the road against Notre Dame will separate the Canes as contenders or pretenders.
    — Austin Perry OutKick, FOXNews.com, 28 July 2026
Definition of pretender
Noun
  • According to Hon Weng Chong, Cortical Labs founder and CEO, some potential applications include drug discovery, humanoid robotics, cybersecurity and fraud detection.
    — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 21 Aug. 2026
  • In March 2025, the EPA terminated roughly $20 billion in Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund grants, with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin alleging programmatic fraud and abuse.
    — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of fraud
Noun
  • In place of San Francisco’s decaying arts bohemia of poseurs and charlatans, they can be said to be creating an alternate bohemia.
    — Michael Bernick, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026
  • Others estimate that $500 billion in federal spending is diverted by charlatans each year.
    — Las Vegas Review-Journal, Twin Cities, 7 June 2026
Definition of charlatan

Browse Nearby Words

faking out
fakir
fakirs
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Cite this Entry

“Fakir.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fakir. Accessed 23 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on fakir

Nglish: Translation of fakir for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about fakir

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