1
as in mocking
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 playing
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
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Recent Examples of impersonating
Prosecutors have said Banfield was impersonating his wife, Christine, in an online account on a fetish website.
—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 13 Jan. 2026
Council members Bob Blumenfield and Eunisses Hernandez aim to maximize fines and fees for any individuals impersonating a federal, state or local law enforcement agent, as well as to ensure residents’ can rightfully request verifiable identification of masked, non-uniformed or unmarked individuals.
—City News Service, Daily News, 9 Jan. 2026
He was robbed by a man impersonating a police officer and testified as a key witness at the trial, according to a media reports.
—Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 31 Dec. 2025
The lobster heist fits in the first type, which involves someone impersonating a legitimate trucking company.
—Fortune, 31 Dec. 2025
Dewey finds his way into a private school by impersonating his friend Ned Schneebly (Mike White) and soon bonds with the focused children over rock music.
—Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Dec. 2025
Drew Michael similarly mocked Jimmy Fallon’s emptiness in his 2021 special Red Blue Green by impersonating his ability to laugh at anything, and Hasan Minhaj impersonated Aziz Ansari’s cartoonishness in 2022’s The King’s Jester.
—Hershal Pandya, Vulture, 30 Dec. 2025
Rumors spread about the Malmedy and Stavelot murders, paratroopers behind enemy lines, and German soldiers impersonating Americans to seize bridges.
—Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 25 Dec. 2025
Someone started impersonating its sales rep by using a sneakily similar username.
—Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, 23 Dec. 2025
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 13 Jan. 2026
Council members Bob Blumenfield and Eunisses Hernandez aim to maximize fines and fees for any individuals impersonating a federal, state or local law enforcement agent, as well as to ensure residents’ can rightfully request verifiable identification of masked, non-uniformed or unmarked individuals.
—City News Service, Daily News, 9 Jan. 2026
He was robbed by a man impersonating a police officer and testified as a key witness at the trial, according to a media reports.
—Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 31 Dec. 2025
The lobster heist fits in the first type, which involves someone impersonating a legitimate trucking company.
—Fortune, 31 Dec. 2025
Dewey finds his way into a private school by impersonating his friend Ned Schneebly (Mike White) and soon bonds with the focused children over rock music.
—Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Dec. 2025
Drew Michael similarly mocked Jimmy Fallon’s emptiness in his 2021 special Red Blue Green by impersonating his ability to laugh at anything, and Hasan Minhaj impersonated Aziz Ansari’s cartoonishness in 2022’s The King’s Jester.
—Hershal Pandya, Vulture, 30 Dec. 2025
Rumors spread about the Malmedy and Stavelot murders, paratroopers behind enemy lines, and German soldiers impersonating Americans to seize bridges.
—Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 25 Dec. 2025
Someone started impersonating its sales rep by using a sneakily similar username.
—Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, 23 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impersonating
Verb
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During Glaser's interview with Stern, the shock jock praised her for mocking CBS News despite the Golden Globes airing on CBS.—
Ashley Hume,
FOXNews.com,
14 Jan. 2026
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Ricky Gervais has hosted the Golden Globes five times, making Hollywood sweat with his take-no-prisoners approach to jokes mocking showbiz.—
William Earl,
Variety,
30 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Still, investors now have to make the tricky balance between hedging against geopolitical risks and playing the AI theme.—
Yeo Boon Ping,
CNBC,
15 Jan. 2026
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Throughout her life, her doting mom has snapped some adorable pictures of her hanging out with cousins, showing love to her siblings or playing dress up and looking just like a mini-me.—
Andrea Wurzburger,
PEOPLE,
15 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Two hours later, the trainer — now in a foam Michelin-man neck-to-heel suit — crouches near the box, imitating a quiet intruder.—
Megan Sauer
Tasia Jensen,
CNBC,
14 Jan. 2026
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Users appeared to be imitating and showing off to one another.—
Matteo Wong,
The Atlantic,
14 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Newsom hedges his bets by portraying the budget as a placeholder that covers little more than spending increases driven by law, inflation and caseload until more revenue data are received.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
13 Jan. 2026
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Inside, you’ll be transported to the golden age of piracy and meet actors portraying famous pirates of the past, Wallsmith said.—
Kari Barnett,
Sun Sentinel,
13 Jan. 2026
Verb
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At one end of the spectrum, Croatia, Greece, and Poland feature the most working hours in the European Union, and some of the bloc’s worst performing economies.—
Joe O’Connor,
Time,
13 Jan. 2026
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Despite being far from perfect, the company says that AI models performing at 60% or better can reshape the nature of work as professionals work in tandem with the technology.—
Jake Angelo,
Fortune,
13 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Culkin was just four years old when his acting career began.—
Emlyn Travis,
Entertainment Weekly,
12 Jan. 2026
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In 2026, Elordi snagged two acting nominations at the Golden Globes, including Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his role in Frankenstein.—
Brianne Tracy,
PEOPLE,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
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In the 18th and 19th centuries, this square was the site of a slave market; today, bronze sculptures depicting scenes of branding and auctioning stand in memory of that brutal past.—
Caitlin Gunther,
Travel + Leisure,
12 Jan. 2026
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British law prohibits distribution of deepfake imagery depicting adults.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
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This perspective reflects her broader philosophy that people are active participants in their own process, capable of interpreting their internal signals with guidance rather than direction.—
Connie Etemadi,
USA Today,
8 Jan. 2026
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But interpreting this statistic has become more complicated with the crackdown on immigrants.—
Phillip Molnar,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Impersonating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impersonating. Accessed 18 Jan. 2026.
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