variants
or imposter
as in pretender
one who makes false claims of identity or expertise
the man who claimed to be a prince turned out to be an impostor
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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 impostor
There are currently imposters even pretending to represent the FTC itself.
—
Jeanne Sahadi, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2025
The term became popular thanks to the pandemic-era online game Among Us, where players have to find imposters among their crew.
—Mia Thurow, jsonline.com, 20 Aug. 2025
The total number of business imposter and government imposter reports filed by older adults with a loss of $10,000 or more reached 8,269 reports in 2024, up from 1,790 in 2020, according to the FTC.
—Susan Tompor, Freep.com, 18 Aug. 2025
The Democratic Women’s Caucus wrote in a letter to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) leaders Monday that the change is necessary to protect women from assaults and kidnappings by imposters.
—Elizabeth Crisp, The Hill, 12 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impostor
Jeanne Sahadi, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2025
The term became popular thanks to the pandemic-era online game Among Us, where players have to find imposters among their crew.
—Mia Thurow, jsonline.com, 20 Aug. 2025
The total number of business imposter and government imposter reports filed by older adults with a loss of $10,000 or more reached 8,269 reports in 2024, up from 1,790 in 2020, according to the FTC.
—Susan Tompor, Freep.com, 18 Aug. 2025
The Democratic Women’s Caucus wrote in a letter to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) leaders Monday that the change is necessary to protect women from assaults and kidnappings by imposters.
—Elizabeth Crisp, The Hill, 12 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for impostor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impostor
Noun
-
Crazy as this sport is, all four teams might be pretenders.—
Ken Rosenthal,
New York Times,
10 Sep. 2025
-
But the Bolts don't have enough pieces to go from pretenders to contenders.—
Robert Marvi,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Famously, the Wizard is a charlatan in every version of the text.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
30 Aug. 2025
-
No matter the party affiliation, there’ll be charlatans claiming to care, while smooth-talking their way into the homes of hard-working people who struggle.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
15 July 2025
Noun
-
On the game-winning extra point, Notre Dame kept Luke Talich and Leonard Moore back to … protect against a fake?—
Pete Sampson,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Unfortunately a recent deep fake has come in the guise of a friend.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
There are literally dozens of acting categories at the Emmys, meaning there are dozens of fashion moments from your favorite TV actors and actresses.—
Glamour,
Glamour,
15 Sep. 2025
-
This was also the actor’s (and Them June cover star’s) first-ever Emmy nomination, which makes his victory all the more impressive.—
James Factora,
Them.,
15 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Caricatured by Honoré Daumier and his lesser followers always as a mountebank, a charlatan, a circus clown, Louis Napoleon could normalize the extent of his outrages by the seeming harmlessness of his absurdities.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
13 June 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
Noun
-
As experts departed, quacks arrived.—
Charles Bethea,
New Yorker,
9 Sep. 2025
-
Medallion’s Derek Lo figures that his software can cut through the system’s redundancies, slashing the time and cost of paperwork designed to prevent quacks from practicing medicine and safeguard patients that’s spiraled into something burdensome.—
Amy Feldman,
Forbes.com,
20 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Through a mixture of internet sleuthing, preternatural good taste and a willingness to do whatever is necessary, Matthew quickly elevates his way to becoming a creative and emotional sounding board for Oliver — even as the singer’s entourage increasingly looks at him as a phony.—
William Earl,
Variety,
22 Aug. 2025
-
Liberal Ted Garcia is a slick political phony — a cartoonish whitewash of actual government authoritarians (Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, Andrew Cuomo, etc.).—
Armond White,
National Review,
23 July 2025
Noun
-
The Nepalese government, citing concerns over fake accounts, hate speech, disinformation and fraud, said the measures were to ensure accountability and make operators responsible for content on their platforms.—
Nir Kshetri,
The Conversation,
14 Sep. 2025
-
While the classic grounds for denaturalization include concealment of criminal histories or material lies in the naturalization process, there are growing indications that serious tax fraud may be viewed as evidence that naturalization was procured illegally or fraudulently.—
Kelly Phillips Erb,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Impostor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impostor. Accessed 16 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share