as in fraud
one who makes false claims of identity or expertise
it turns out that the guy who claimed to work for a modeling agency was just a pretender
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pretender
The signing of Isak, however, might have turned Arsenal from title pretenders to genuine contenders.
—
Graham Ruthven, Forbes.com, 28 July 2025
Additional movement could also happen as the contenders get sorted out from the pretenders once the regular season starts.
—James Mirtle, New York Times, 2 July 2025
King portrays Prince John, younger brother to Richard, son of King Henry, and a dangerous pretender to the throne.
—Denise Petski, Deadline, 1 July 2025
What used to be a very niche field with only a small handful of offerings has become a cottage industry full of contenders and pretenders, and any number of startups offering a readymade conversion for your bike.
—Michael Venutolo-Mantovani, Wired News, 20 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for pretender
Graham Ruthven, Forbes.com, 28 July 2025
Additional movement could also happen as the contenders get sorted out from the pretenders once the regular season starts.
—James Mirtle, New York Times, 2 July 2025
King portrays Prince John, younger brother to Richard, son of King Henry, and a dangerous pretender to the throne.
—Denise Petski, Deadline, 1 July 2025
What used to be a very niche field with only a small handful of offerings has become a cottage industry full of contenders and pretenders, and any number of startups offering a readymade conversion for your bike.
—Michael Venutolo-Mantovani, Wired News, 20 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for pretender
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pretender
Noun
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Julie and Todd were found guilty of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and tax fraud in June 2022, while Julie was also found guilty of wire fraud.—
Rachel Raposas,
PEOPLE,
7 Sep. 2025
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The election is complicated by the fact that Brown faces felony fraud charges.—
Josh Bergeron,
Charlotte Observer,
7 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The Buffs bit on a zone-read fake on Delaware’s first drive as tailback Jo Silver opened the game by gashing CU for a 10-yard gain.—
Sean Keeler,
Denver Post,
6 Sep. 2025
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True stories are one way to differentiate the authentic from the fake.—
Anne Thompson,
IndieWire,
6 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Pottery Barn offers matching shams with zipper closures, and both the quilt and shams are available on sale.—
Caley Sturgill,
Southern Living,
3 Sep. 2025
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In terms of your pillowcases, skip the decorative shams and opt for a set that matches your sheets.—
Tessa Cooper,
Better Homes & Gardens,
26 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Islamic eschatology warned of a deceiver who distorts perception, blurring reality.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
15 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The thing was, the rapper was not there, instead sending an imposter the way that the late MF Doom used to do.—
Matthew Strauss,
Pitchfork,
28 Aug. 2025
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The total number of business imposter and government imposter reports filed by older adults with a loss of $10,000 or more reached 8,269 reports in 2024, up from 1,790 in 2020, according to the FTC.—
Susan Tompor,
USA Today,
27 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Famously, the Wizard is a charlatan in every version of the text.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
30 Aug. 2025
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No matter the party affiliation, there’ll be charlatans claiming to care, while smooth-talking their way into the homes of hard-working people who struggle.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
15 July 2025
Noun
-
Caricatured by Honoré Daumier and his lesser followers always as a mountebank, a charlatan, a circus clown, Louis Napoleon could normalize the extent of his outrages by the seeming harmlessness of his absurdities.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
13 June 2025
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With tariffs on pharmaceuticals, the mountebank of Mar-A-Lago wants to punish a small democracy of 5.3 million people that for the past 60 years has worked its way into the top table of drug research and production: Ireland.—
Kevin Rennie,
Hartford Courant,
29 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Medallion’s Derek Lo figures that his software can cut through the system’s redundancies, slashing the time and cost of paperwork designed to prevent quacks from practicing medicine and safeguard patients that’s spiraled into something burdensome.—
Amy Feldman,
Forbes.com,
20 Aug. 2025
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Tell that to the kids who have been hospitalized and died from measles, following quack Dr. Bobby’s Rx to avoid the shots.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
29 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pretender.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pretender. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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