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
  • Ours is not a society that loathes charlatans; look who’s running things.
    — Lauren Michele Jackson, New Yorker, 19 Aug. 2026
  • 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
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
  • Children are born copycats and seeing parents using the toilet can inspire them to do the same.
    — BestReviews, Mercury News, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Krasner warned potential copycats who were thinking of imitating Hughes' behavior.
    — Kelsie Cairns , Louis Casiano, FOXNews.com, 20 Aug. 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
  • No wonder More had so many imitators, who set about busily redrawing their own maps of the world.
    — Carline Tromp, The Dial, 18 Aug. 2026
  • That’s because success begets imitators eager to compete away profits.
    — John Tamny, Forbes.com, 18 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

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Cite this Entry

“Poseurs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poseurs. Accessed 31 Aug. 2026.

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