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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Triste was mixed by Chris Coady and features contributions from drummer Josh Freese and guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, with whom Lenchantin previously played in A Perfect Circle.—
Walden Green,
Pitchfork,
20 Aug. 2025
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Staff members raved about Jackson’s performance, with some viewing him as a bigger version of Abe Camara, who played nickel last year for TCU.—
Steven Johnson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
19 Aug. 2025
Verb
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In the real world, a fake account impersonates a golfer, initiates contact, then quickly shifts the conversation to Telegram or WhatsApp.—
Devlina Sarkar,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Aug. 2025
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The jury also added charges of felony cruelty to an animal and impersonating a police officer with an aggravating factor of driving a vehicle that looked like a police car.—
Emily Hallas,
The Washington Examiner,
15 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Although Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis had a cutthroat rivalry in Black Swan, life did not imitate art for the actresses, despite Darren Aronofsky‘s best attempts.—
Glenn Garner,
Deadline,
15 Aug. 2025
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The fake pool has been designed to imitate the uppermost twenty feet of the real one as closely as possible, down to the contours of its sides, which are made not from rock but from plastic foam sealed with fibreglass.—
Elizabeth Kolbert,
New Yorker,
9 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The event’s host, the actress Florence Foresti, openly mocked the movie’s prominence there.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
14 Aug. 2025
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Protestors were seen holding banners and placards expressing their frustration about Vance and the wider U.S. administration, as well as mocking the vice president.—
Sophie Kiderlin,
CNBC,
14 Aug. 2025
Verb
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American leaders and commentators often portrayed international adversaries in unflattering and discursive brushstrokes.—
Time,
Time,
8 Aug. 2025
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South Park went after Homeland Security on its social media pages and made Vice President JD Vance a key target in the latest episode, portraying him toddler-sized next to Trump.—
Joshua Sammons,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Ukraine launched multiple drone strikes into Russia overnight Thursday, damaging several apartment buildings in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don and injuring more than a dozen civilians, according to acting governor of the region, Yuri Slyusar.—
Bradford Betz,
FOXNews.com,
15 Aug. 2025
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Sean Duffy, the acting administrator of NASA for a little more than a month, has vowed to make the United States great in space.—
Eric Berger,
ArsTechnica,
15 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Personate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/personate. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
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