Synonyms of imposture

imposture

noun

1

as in affectation

Related Words

• affectation
• imitation
• fiction
• representation
• pretense
• simulation
• pose
• demonstration
• likeness
• display
• make-believe
• masquerade
• resemblance
• image
• implication
• disguise
• insinuation
• mask
• cloak
• surface
• suggestion
• veneer
• effect
• hint
• gloss
• facade
• exterior
• front
• shape
• shell
• impression
• seeming
• patina
• air
• semblance
• appearance
• Potemkin village
• name
• guise
• show
• outward
• face

2

as in deception

Related Words

• deception
• fakery
• quackery
• duplicity
• humbuggery
• dissimulation
• hypocrisy
• deceit
• insincerity
• dishonesty
• deceptiveness
• double-dealing
• crookedness
• guile
• treachery
• deceitfulness
• dupery
• shrewdness
• crookery
• deviousness
• shiftiness
• underhandedness
• slyness
• secrecy
• dirty pool
• sneakiness
• slipperiness
• trickery
• cunning
• craftiness
• dirty tricks
• subterfuge
• artfulness
• oiliness
• stealth
• scheming
• chicanery
• slickness
• jugglery
• wiliness
• guilefulness
• plotting
• skulduggery
• shadiness
• gamesmanship
• caginess
• legerdemain
• sharpness
• artifice
• chicane
• wile
• foxiness
• design
• jiggery-pokery
• hanky-panky

Dissimilar Words

• sincerity
• ingenuousness
• artlessness
• guilelessness
• forthrightness
• candor
• directness
• openness
• plainness
• candidness
• plainspokenness

Synonym Chooser

How is the word imposture different from other nouns like it?

Some common synonyms of imposture are counterfeit, fake, fraud, humbug, and sham. While all these words mean "a thing made to seem other than it is," imposture applies to any situation in which a spurious object or performance is passed off as genuine.

their claim of environmental concern is an imposture

When is counterfeit a more appropriate choice than imposture?

While in some cases nearly identical to imposture, counterfeit applies especially to the close imitation of something valuable.

20-dollar bills that were counterfeits

When would fake be a good substitute for imposture?

The meanings of fake and imposture largely overlap; however, fake implies an imitation of or substitution for the genuine but does not necessarily imply dishonesty.

these jewels are fakes; the real ones are in the vault

Where would fraud be a reasonable alternative to imposture?

While the synonyms fraud and imposture are close in meaning, fraud usually implies a deliberate perversion of the truth.

the diary was exposed as a fraud

When is it sensible to use humbug instead of imposture?

In some situations, the words humbug and imposture are roughly equivalent. However, humbug suggests elaborate pretense usually so flagrant as to be transparent.

creating publicity by foisting humbugs on a gullible public

When can sham be used instead of imposture?

The synonyms sham and imposture are sometimes interchangeable, but sham applies to fraudulent imitation of a real thing or action.

condemned the election as a sham

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of imposture

The Geneva Bible, which Knox helped to prepare, was in English rather than Lowland Scots, and the resulting imposture fatally separated the nation’s heart from its head. — David Wheatley, The New York Review of Books, 9 May 2026

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