as in fraud
one who makes false claims of identity or expertise
claimed that many doctors were frauds and mountebanks
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Recent Examples of mountebank
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
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
Gould observed that Jerry Falwell had taken up the mountebank’s mission of William Jennings Bryan.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2024
Now, this pallid Color Purple epitomizes the artistic dearth of an era when a cultural mountebank like Winfrey uses race and feminist guile to cheat us of America’s most creative achievements.
—Armond White, National Review, 3 Jan. 2024
The alternative circumstance, that crackpots and mountebanks might claim such evidence exists, then fail to produce any, is, on the other hand, entirely plausible and familiar.
—Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 31 July 2023
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
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
Gould observed that Jerry Falwell had taken up the mountebank’s mission of William Jennings Bryan.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2024
Now, this pallid Color Purple epitomizes the artistic dearth of an era when a cultural mountebank like Winfrey uses race and feminist guile to cheat us of America’s most creative achievements.
—Armond White, National Review, 3 Jan. 2024
The alternative circumstance, that crackpots and mountebanks might claim such evidence exists, then fail to produce any, is, on the other hand, entirely plausible and familiar.
—Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 31 July 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mountebank
Noun
-
Peters has not expressed remorse for her actions, instead defending them as necessary to investigate possible fraud.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
6 Mar. 2026
-
Last month, in a separate case, Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal handed Lai a rare legal victory by overturning his conviction for fraud and quashing a 69-month sentence.—
Reuters 8 hr ago,
CNN Money,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Home Soft Things cotton set, which includes a duvet cover and standard shams, is gingham meets buffalo plaid.—
Yelena Moroz Alpert,
Architectural Digest,
26 Feb. 2026
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When one of their victims realized the sham and sought legitimate legal counsel, the defendants sent him messages threatening deportation, court documents show.—
Colin Mixson,
New York Daily News,
21 Feb. 2026
Noun
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These two pretenders reflect an insider debate whose subject is not the existence of the Islamic Republic but the best method of its survival.—
Karim Sadjadpour,
The Atlantic,
4 Mar. 2026
-
The Cult of the Beaver has to fend off pretenders.—
AJ Willingham,
AJC.com,
13 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Carl Sagan's baloney detection kit taught us how to separate good science from the work of charlatans.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
10 Feb. 2026
-
First up was Ben Shapiro, who described Tucker Carlson and others as grifters and charlatans, guilty of misleading their audiences with falsehoods and conspiracy theories.—
Jonathan J. Cooper,
Fortune,
19 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Some firms have also invested more heavily in artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to scale up efforts like text and image screening to better detect fakes and fraudsters.—
Kate Nishimura,
Sourcing Journal,
5 Mar. 2026
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Plans are now underway for a contemporary reimagining of the series, which saw McShane play the eponymous roguish and fourth wall-breaking antiques dealer, a likeable anti-hero with a knack for recognizing genuine antiques from fakes or forgeries.—
Alex Ritman,
Variety,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
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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
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Islamic eschatology warned of a deceiver who distorts perception, blurring reality.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
15 Aug. 2025
Noun
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But when a patient recognizes him from his dangerous past, Brown has eight hours to elude the government, mob hitmen, quack surgeons, and a trail of dead gangers to beat the reaper somehow.—
Rosy Cordero,
Deadline,
18 Dec. 2025
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But let’s circle back to TV‘s patron saint of affable, oft–insidious quacks.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
16 Dec. 2025
Noun
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The impostors have been presenting themselves as representatives of the Texas Department of Insurance's Division of Workers' Compensation.—
Doug Myers,
CBS News,
25 Feb. 2026
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Days later, a note was sent directly to the Guthrie family, allegedly from a man living in Hawthorne, that authorities now say was an impostor.—
Hannah Fry,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mountebank.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mountebank. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.
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