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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Recent Examples of poseurs
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
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
Noun
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The 21st century’s obstacles for young men—as seen in deaths of despair and lagging employment—have been amply publicized both by credible journalists and by charlatans such as Fuentes.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
27 Mar. 2026
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Carl Sagan's baloney detection kit taught us how to separate good science from the work of charlatans.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
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These two pretenders reflect an insider debate whose subject is not the existence of the Islamic Republic but the best method of its survival.—
Karim Sadjadpour,
The Atlantic,
4 Mar. 2026
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The Cult of the Beaver has to fend off pretenders.—
AJ Willingham,
AJC.com,
13 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Other internet critics slammed his great-uncle’s creation as touristy, insisting diners could find tastier versions among the legion of copycats.—
Danielle Paquette,
Washington Post,
28 Mar. 2026
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And just as Elon Musk’s initial moonshot package spawned a whole class of copycats (including Musk’s more recent $1 trillion plan), Ferracone expects other tech companies to mimic Meta’s latest move.—
Claire Zillman,
Fortune,
28 Mar. 2026
Noun
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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
Noun
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For decades, Gallup’s company and its imitators improved their techniques.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
21 Feb. 2026
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Along the way, the festival has outlasted many imitators and weathered shifting food trends by staying nimble.—
Peter Burke,
FOXNews.com,
21 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The impostors have been presenting themselves as representatives of the Texas Department of Insurance's Division of Workers' Compensation.—
Doug Myers,
CBS News,
25 Feb. 2026
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According to the Federal Trade Commission, imposters posing as government agencies were one of the top reported scams in the Arizona, costing consumers more than $20 million in 2025.—
Miguel Torres,
AZCentral.com,
26 Jan. 2026
Noun
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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
Noun
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The men who flocked to spring training sites were called scabs, cast as anti-union phonies.—
Cody Stavenhagen,
New York Times,
17 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Poseurs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poseurs. Accessed 30 Mar. 2026.
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