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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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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Before playing in the last four games, Reaves had missed the previous 19 with his calf injury.—
Broderick Turner,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Feb. 2026
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Maldonado invited Jaquez to play, and after losing, Jaquez bought Maldonado drinks and returned to his friend group, according to the affidavit.—
Elissa Jorgensen,
Dallas Morning News,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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According to Amazon, of all the scams impersonating Amazon reported by its customers globally in 2023, over two-thirds of scams claimed to be related to order or account issues.—
Amaris Encinas,
USA Today,
8 Feb. 2026
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Other counterprotesters mockingly impersonated billionaires by donning crowns or top hats.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Often imitated, never duplicated.—
Sean Gentille,
New York Times,
31 Jan. 2026
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My dad would tell jokes, and my mom would tell stories and imitate everyone within the stories.—
Caroline Blair,
PEOPLE,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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James Van Der Beek, a heartthrob who starred in coming-of-age dramas at the dawn of the new millennium, shooting to fame playing the titular character in Dawson’s Creek and in later years mocking his own hunky persona, has died.—
Dallas Morning News,
Dallas Morning News,
11 Feb. 2026
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Anthropic used Super Bowl ads to mock OpenAI’s plans to inject advertisements into ChatGPT conversations, sparking debate about chatbots delivering ads.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The image became a meme, repeatedly used to portray Miliband as awkward.—
Timothy Nerozzi,
The Washington Examiner,
10 Feb. 2026
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Barer will portray Zoe Gutierrez, a character featured in Holly Brickley’s 2023 novel, which the film is based on.—
McKinley Franklin,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The staff acts as almost a mini-military– serving and protecting this metaphorical anti-war, positive energy force field.—
Jessica Chapel,
Condé Nast Traveler,
15 Feb. 2026
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Throughout the years, Franklin served on many more boards and acted as a consultant providing his expertise on housing, infrastructure and community engagement.—
Everett Eaton,
jsonline.com,
14 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Personate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/personate. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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