poseurs

noun

plural of poseur
as in charlatans
disapproving a person who dresses or behaves in a deceptive way that is meant to impress other people

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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 poseurs In place of San Francisco’s decaying arts bohemia of poseurs and charlatans, they can be said to be creating an alternate bohemia. — Michael Bernick, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026 The nature of the American political system propagates scads of lawyers and poseurs who blather on endlessly, promising everything and delivering little. — Laura Washington, Chicago Tribune, 14 Jan. 2026 Nobody made videos in those primitive days, nobody except weird Brit poseurs and art freaks and thirsty postpunk eccentrics, so the network was forced to play them all. — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 16 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for poseurs
  1. charlatans
  2. pretenders
  3. copycats
  4. fakers
  5. imitators
  6. impostors
  7. mountebanks
  8. phonies
Noun
  • In place of San Francisco’s decaying arts bohemia of poseurs and charlatans, they can be said to be creating an alternate bohemia.
    — Michael Bernick, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026
  • Others estimate that $500 billion in federal spending is diverted by charlatans each year.
    — Las Vegas Review-Journal, Twin Cities, 7 June 2026
Definition of charlatans
Noun
  • The schedule is forgivable, even by ACC standards, but a rematch on the road against Notre Dame will separate the Canes as contenders or pretenders.
    — Austin Perry OutKick, FOXNews.com, 28 July 2026
  • Now, hardship seems to be an end in itself, a battle scar or badge of honor that distinguishes true backpackers from mere pretenders.
    — Tim Brinkhof, Time, 4 May 2026
Definition of pretenders
Noun
  • Many are blatant copycats of existing titles, seemingly intended to trick readers into buying them.
    — Will Oremus, The Atlantic, 27 July 2026
  • Across the region, law enforcement officials are trying to head off copycats of the Newport event over concerns of possible theft, vandalism and violence.
    — Jaweed Kaleem, Los Angeles Times, 11 July 2026
Definition of copycats
Noun
  • To tell the truly venomous from the fakers, there are a couple details to help distinguish the two.
    — Kirsten Fiscus, Nashville Tennessean, 17 Sep. 2025
Definition of fakers
Noun
  • Over the past year, a wave of imitators loaded public-company balance sheets with cryptocurrencies in hopes of sparking stock rallies, but that trade has since soured.
    — Camila Grigera Naón, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Unfortunately, Winger committed the mortal sins of having a pretty boy lead singer and painfully cheesy videos (even by 80s standards), so most people dismissed them and Beach as cheap imitators.
    — Matt Reigle OutKick, FOXNews.com, 8 Aug. 2026
Definition of imitators
Noun
  • Few imposters have been quite as easy to spot as Terran Empire Spock, however, whose trademark goatee is something of a giveaway.
    — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Players get points for correctly calling out imposters, or remaining undetected as impostors.
    — Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of impostors
Noun
  • 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
Definition of mountebanks
Noun
  • Just as Moby-Dick is canonically about whales, Catcher is canonically about phonies.
    — Lily Meyer, The Atlantic, 7 July 2026
  • At Dodger Stadium at the end of April, Crow-Amstrong also had to deal with the consequences of his actions — ripping Los Angeles Dodgers fans for being phonies in a Chicago magazine article that went viral.
    — Jon Greenberg, New York Times, 22 May 2026
Definition of phonies

Browse Nearby Words

poseur
poseurs
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Cite this Entry

“Poseurs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poseurs. Accessed 17 Aug. 2026.

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