Thesaurus results for PERSONATE

personate

verb

ˈpər-sə-ˌnāt

Definition of personate

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for personate

Verb

Business travelers love this hotel for its balance of work and play, along with its central location.

— Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
Barcelona Lamine Yamal may have been light on the score sheet during the World Cup, but the teenage phenom played his role to perfection during Spain’s tournament-winning run.

— Justin Birnbaum, Sportico.com, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of play

Verb

Then another old friend of Mary’s, the shape-shifting warlock William (Devon Sawa), is revealed to have been impersonating a teacher.

— Mya Copeland, Variety, 5 Oct. 2026
Colbert gifted Kimmel his Captain America shield, did a sketch-within-an-interview with his son impersonating a Kiwi police officer, and shaved for our amusement.

— Bethy Squires, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of impersonate

Verb

OpenAI denied intentionally imitating Johansson’s voice and later withdrew the feature.

— ABC News, ABC News, 5 Oct. 2026
Then-Princess Elizabeth struggled to pronounce her own name as a toddler, and her grandfather, King George V, reportedly imitated her pronunciation.

— Stephanie Nolasco, FOXNews.com, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of imitate

Verb

Also on Weekend Update, James Austin Johnson portrayed a selfish Kevin O’Leary, the Shark Tank investor who is backing a massive data center campus in northwest Utah.

— William Vaillancourt, Rolling Stone, 11 Oct. 2026
The patience required to piece them together paints Winehouse as an introspective woman as opposed to her party girl that the tabloids portrayed her as.

— Hikmat Mohammed, ARTnews.com, 10 Oct. 2026

Definition of portray

Verb

Fitoussi said the project began almost as a joke, with the idea of casting one of France’s busiest actors as someone who never gets to act.

— Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 12 Oct. 2026
Please have a plan in place should flash flooding develop and do not hesitate to act.

— NC Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 11 Oct. 2026

Definition of act

Browse Nearby Words

personalty

personate

personated

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Personate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/personate. Accessed 13 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of personate

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

abscond

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Why do we call it a 'flea market'?

Popular

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes