as in to play
to pretend to be (what one is not) in appearance or behavior
likes to personate the man of the world, but he's still the small-town hick that he always was
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of personate
Till’s motifs swept though the ensemble, as horns, clarinets, bassoons, violin all had a chance to personate the character.
—
By Libby Hanssen, kansascity.com, 3 June 2017
By Libby Hanssen, kansascity.com, 3 June 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for personate
Verb
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How to play Mega Millions Player can pick six numbers from two separate pools of numbers — five different numbers from 1 to 70 (the white balls) and one number from 1 to 24 (the gold Mega Mall).—
Tanya Wildt,
Freep.com,
4 Mar. 2026
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Bilodeau has scored in double figures in 26 of 28 games played, totaling 20 points or more nine times.—
Steve Galluzzo,
Los Angeles Times,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Hinton is now facing charges, including impersonating a public official, along with vehicle code violations.—
Mike Darnay,
CBS News,
6 Mar. 2026
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So don't go off topic, don't impersonate anyone, and don't get your facts wrong.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
6 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Nearby, 15-year-old Aguara leapt through the air, clearing an obstacle course while imitating the precise movements of a Belgian breed dog.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
27 Feb. 2026
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Reading often inspires her to write short stories that imitate the voice of an author.—
Nick Romano,
Entertainment Weekly,
26 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Bold choices are applauded or mocked—or mocked at the time and then applauded later.—
Esther Zuckerman,
Vanity Fair,
3 Mar. 2026
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This might be the first time a film opens in theaters attached to a trailer for another movie mocking its franchise.—
James Hibberd,
HollywoodReporter,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Some employees on Tuesday also felt frustrated that some observers are portraying Anthropic as heroic despite previous years of work with the Pentagon and major defense contractor Palantir with little scrutiny.—
Hadas Gold,
CNN Money,
4 Mar. 2026
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After portraying Alabaster, down to his pearly-white surname, as the apotheosis of white male villainy, Cash deflates him by arguing, essentially, #NotAllMen.—
Malavika Kannan,
Vulture,
3 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The Kosas Revealer Skin Improving Foundation acted as the perfect canvas—the skin tint is lightweight, buildable, and packed with skin-improving ingredients like peptides, hyaluronic acid, and niacinamide.—
Kaitlin Clapinski,
InStyle,
8 Mar. 2026
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This bridal shower dress acts as a sweet nod to my wedding weekend, and the celebrations that are just around the corner.—
Alexandra Ditch,
Vogue,
8 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Personate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/personate. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.
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