impersonates

verb

present tense third-person singular of impersonate
1
as in mocks
to pretend to be (what one is not) in appearance or behavior a school intruder was caught trying to impersonate a teacher

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in plays
to present a portrayal or performance of interpreters at the living history museum impersonate figures who are known to have actually lived in the colonial town

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 impersonates The first stage puts its payload inside an app bundle that impersonates real components built into macOS. — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 2 July 2026 But only male pilots can apply—so Wooram goes full Twelfth Night and impersonates her twin brother Boram, with his blessing. — Literary Hub, 1 Apr. 2026 Like that video where Bryan Cranston impersonates Art Garfunkel at Central Park, and his bouffant gets bigger every time the camera cuts back. — Mike Sutter, San Antonio Express-News, 25 Feb. 2026 Those that fear dust mites and other allergens will be pleased to know this $40 pick from Quince impersonates hotel luxury pillows without the goose down or the price point. — Kate McGregor, Architectural Digest, 19 Feb. 2026 When an escaped Eleven finds her way to a diner (the image of a bald Brown in a hospital gown shoving fries into her mouth is indelible), Brenner’s team impersonates social services, kills the kind proprietor, but fails to apprehend her. — Judy Berman, Time, 26 Dec. 2025 The scam impersonates Walmart and claims someone has made an expensive PS5 order through the user’s account. — PC Magazine, 2 Dec. 2025 If targets dispute the claims, they are transferred to another caller, who impersonates Chinese law enforcement. — Sam Stevenson, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Nov. 2025 Friedland then impersonates his grandmother’s South African accent, to Kind’s delight. — Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impersonates
  1. mocks
  2. plays
  3. imitates
  4. portrays
  5. performs
  6. depicts
  7. interprets
Verb
  • The Los Angeles Dodgers insulted their Catholic paying customers by honoring a drag group that parades around as nuns and mocks their religion.
    — Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 2 July 2026
  • One of the moments in the musical that caused the most laughter and claps from the audience was the final song, which mocks the idea of using violence as a form of protest rather than joining a movement or focusing on policy.
    — Lorena O’Neil, Rolling Stone, 20 June 2026
Definition of mocks
Verb
  • In the example below, Stephen Eustaquio plays it short, with Canada set up to attack the six-yard box with two runners.
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 14 July 2026
  • France faces Spain in the Dallas semifinal Tuesday, and Argentina plays England in Atlanta on Wednesday.
    — Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 14 July 2026
Definition of plays
Verb
  • The undulating roofline imitates the Allegheny Mountains, and 38 steel columns create a canopy reminiscent of the region's forests, Prix Versailles says.
    — Madeline Bartos, CBS News, 15 June 2026
  • My mother imitates me, then converts the word into a pair of Korean syllables that sound most like the German.
    — Esther Yi, New Yorker, 14 June 2026
Definition of imitates
Verb
  • The story portrays the lives of adolescents today through their own eyes, allowing their voices and perspectives to shape the narrative in a genuine and convincing way.
    — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 11 July 2026
  • Sony portrays the call as a good-faith disclosure to give Teamsters a heads up about its closure plans before workers went ahead with the election.
    — Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 9 July 2026
Definition of portrays
Verb
  • Sherman performs cult-favorite live stand-up shows under the moniker Sarah Squirm and has been with Saturday Night Live for five seasons, beginning in 2021.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 16 July 2026
  • The company says Inkling doesn't top the benchmarks but performs well across a range of tasks, including reasoning and coding.
    — Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 16 July 2026
Definition of performs
Verb
  • The franchise depicts a future where good people want to do good, are endlessly curious, believe in justice and diplomacy and strive to maintain peace.
    — Maira Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2026
  • Achilles discovered among the Daughters of Lycomedes depicts a Greek mythological scene during the Trojan War in which the hero Achilles has been hidden by his mother, the sea nymph Thetis, on the island of Skyros.
    — Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of depicts
Verb
  • Haiken interprets this as evidence that customers remain confident the dealer network will continue supporting them.
    — Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 10 July 2026
  • When a model reasons about revenue, that concept needs to carry the same meaning whether the agent pulls from a data warehouse, queries a CRM or interprets a downstream report.
    — Jay Limburn, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026
Definition of interprets

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Cite this Entry

“Impersonates.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impersonates. Accessed 18 Jul. 2026.

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