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as in pretence
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as in deception
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Recent Examples of imposture
The entire texture of that life, its willed imposture.
—
Joyce Carol Oates, The New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2025
Body Double Long before the imposture of Anna Delvey, the Tichborne Claimaint swept a nation’s imagination.
—JSTOR Daily, 24 June 2024
Because such people are both brand-conscious and unable to detect the real thing, Miss Manners would be inclined to let the imposture pass.
—Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 19 Dec. 2023
This imposture cows the enemy, but Hector slays Patroclus anyway, sealing everyone’s fate.
—Judith Thurman, The New Yorker, 11 Sep. 2023
The print revolution’s past and future, valuing an empire’s impact, a saga of inheritance and imposture from Zadie Smith, and more.
—Wsj Books Staff, WSJ, 1 Sep. 2023
Buy Now: Desertion on Bookshop | Amazon The Fraud, Zadie Smith (Sept. 5)
Zadie Smith’s sixth novel—and first historical one—is inspired by the Tichborne Trial, a controversial case of imposture that divided Victorian England.
—Shannon Carlin, Time, 23 Aug. 2023
The narrator is an antihero with a genius for imposture.
—Judith Thurman, The New Yorker, 20 June 2022
By the end, this newly bold Portia, empowered by imposture, is more singer than speaker.
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2022
Joyce Carol Oates, The New Yorker, 16 Mar. 2025
Body Double Long before the imposture of Anna Delvey, the Tichborne Claimaint swept a nation’s imagination.
—JSTOR Daily, 24 June 2024
Because such people are both brand-conscious and unable to detect the real thing, Miss Manners would be inclined to let the imposture pass.
—Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 19 Dec. 2023
This imposture cows the enemy, but Hector slays Patroclus anyway, sealing everyone’s fate.
—Judith Thurman, The New Yorker, 11 Sep. 2023
The print revolution’s past and future, valuing an empire’s impact, a saga of inheritance and imposture from Zadie Smith, and more.
—Wsj Books Staff, WSJ, 1 Sep. 2023
Buy Now: Desertion on Bookshop | Amazon The Fraud, Zadie Smith (Sept. 5)
Zadie Smith’s sixth novel—and first historical one—is inspired by the Tichborne Trial, a controversial case of imposture that divided Victorian England.
—Shannon Carlin, Time, 23 Aug. 2023
The narrator is an antihero with a genius for imposture.
—Judith Thurman, The New Yorker, 20 June 2022
By the end, this newly bold Portia, empowered by imposture, is more singer than speaker.
—Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for imposture
Noun
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This stylization gives her a veneer of being disarmingly kind; but ultimately, is a form of deception that caused Sophie to fatally trust this person.—
Tiffany Leigh,
Forbes.com,
25 June 2025
-
Codenamed Operation Midnight Hammer, the overnight mission relied on deception, aerial refueling, and near-total radio silence to hit Iran's Fordo and Natanz enrichment facilities—sites that had withstood weeks of sustained Israeli attacks.—
Jesus Mesa,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 June 2025
Noun
-
From our review: Tessa Van den Broeck, a newcomer, plays Julie with zero affectation.—
The New York Times,
New York Times,
28 Mar. 2025
-
No fussy affectations, just a deliberate tamping down of his more charismatic qualities.—
A.A. Dowd,
Rolling Stone,
25 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
The pinstriped Padre had just authored a sharp imitation of one of baseball’s iconic moments by another pinstriped slugging center fielder.—
Tom Krasovic,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
25 June 2025
-
Companies such as Hermès, which has navigated numerous industry shifts and challenges throughout its 188-year history, will likely find a way to combat the threat of low-cost imitations.—
Garth Friesen,
Forbes.com,
24 June 2025
Noun
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That is how CrossFit die-hards who dabble in Qanon quackery and blame wildfires on space lasers end up as the face of the House GOP.—
Ross Rosenfeld,
Newsweek,
26 Feb. 2025
-
But the thought of a person who spreads the kind of dishonesty, quackery and junk science that Kennedy habitually does — especially about our precious kiddos — is nothing short of stomach churning.—
S.E. Cupp,
New York Daily News,
29 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
That was the era The Wednesday Sisters explores, although somehow that was marketed as contemporary fiction.—
Jane Ciabattari
July 1,
Literary Hub,
1 July 2025
-
Sputnik Media is based in Antwerp and works across fiction and non-fiction.—
Stewart Clarke,
Deadline,
1 July 2025
Noun
-
No, the movies in the novel are real, the suffering is real, the evasions and duplicities are real.—
David Denby,
New Yorker,
23 May 2025
-
That yearning involves no duplicity or threats to others.—
Jay Tcath,
Chicago Tribune,
10 June 2025
Noun
-
The federal indictment alleges that Combs and his associates lured two of the women under the pretense of a romantic relationship.—
Richard Winton,
Los Angeles Times,
30 June 2025
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Theft by false pretenses: A Saratoga resident said someone convinced them to sign a property deed in lieu of foreclosure to avoid filing for bankruptcy.—
Anne Gelhaus,
Mercury News,
27 June 2025
Noun
-
The first sign of trouble appeared last month after movers began hauling machinery out of a garment factory in the Sri Lankan suburb of Katunayake, the only one that Next operates in the South Asian nation with union representation.—
Jasmin Malik Chua,
Sourcing Journal,
1 July 2025
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As Hollywood grapples with representation and authentic storytelling, Rassoul embodies a different possibility: identity as active construction rather than passive inheritance.—
Matthew Kayser,
USA Today,
30 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Imposture.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/imposture. Accessed 11 Jul. 2025.
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