impostor

noun

im-ˈpä-stər How to pronounce impostor (audio)
variants or imposter
Definition of impostornext
as in fake
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

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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 Such impostor scams, when a criminal pretends to be a legitimate business or even a government official, are proliferating and morphing at an accelerated rate as artificial intelligence makes impersonation easier than ever. — Bill Lukitsch, Boston Herald, 13 July 2026 Heroes have to figure out who's who, what's going on, and if longtime friends are actual allies or extraterrestrial imposters. — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 8 July 2026 About $920 million of the losses stemmed from government-impostor scams, a $131 million jump from 2024. — Ella Moore july 2, Miami Herald, 2 July 2026 This stops deepfakes and imposters. — Rohan Pinto, Forbes.com, 26 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for impostor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for impostor
  1. fake
  2. fraud
  3. pretender
  4. sham
  5. deceiver
  6. faker
  7. charlatan
  8. mountebank
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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • The actors are perfectly cast, starting with Marmaï’s likable Antoine, the only player here not being the deceiver.
    — Pete Hammond, Deadline, 12 May 2026
  • 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
Definition of deceiver
Noun
  • 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
Definition of faker
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
Noun
  • 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
  • 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
Definition of mountebank

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Cite this Entry

“Impostor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/impostor. Accessed 24 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of impostor for Spanish Speakers

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