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
With the monetary system in a free-fall, some Iranians would rather have a beneficent king than all these pretenders oh-so-interested in the people.
—
Editorial Board, Washington Post, 5 Jan. 2026
The Patriots are contenders, the Bears pretenders.
—Jerry McDonald, Mercury News, 4 Dec. 2025
Not until the 2011-12 broadcast season, or Year 6 of SNF, did NBC’s NFL juggernaut tamp the dirt down over the last pretender.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 21 Nov. 2025
As the difference between contenders and pretenders becomes clearer each week, the Seahawks took a significant step Sunday toward cementing themselves as a team to be reckoned with down the line.
—Michael-Shawn Dugar, New York Times, 10 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pretender
Editorial Board, Washington Post, 5 Jan. 2026
The Patriots are contenders, the Bears pretenders.
—Jerry McDonald, Mercury News, 4 Dec. 2025
Not until the 2011-12 broadcast season, or Year 6 of SNF, did NBC’s NFL juggernaut tamp the dirt down over the last pretender.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 21 Nov. 2025
As the difference between contenders and pretenders becomes clearer each week, the Seahawks took a significant step Sunday toward cementing themselves as a team to be reckoned with down the line.
—Michael-Shawn Dugar, New York Times, 10 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pretender
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pretender
Noun
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Peters has not expressed remorse for her actions, instead defending them as necessary to investigate possible fraud.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
6 Mar. 2026
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Last month, in a separate case, Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal handed Lai a rare legal victory by overturning his conviction for fraud and quashing a 69-month sentence.—
Reuters 8 hr ago,
CNN Money,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Does Scream 7 want to honor the 30-year legacy of the franchise, which would explain the AI deep fakes?—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
27 Feb. 2026
-
Lamont said his conservation with Porat focused on striking a balance between driving innovation and addressing concerns around algorithmic bias, deep fakes and job loss.—
Lisa Hagen,
Hartford Courant,
27 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Home Soft Things cotton set, which includes a duvet cover and standard shams, is gingham meets buffalo plaid.—
Yelena Moroz Alpert,
Architectural Digest,
26 Feb. 2026
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When one of their victims realized the sham and sought legitimate legal counsel, the defendants sent him messages threatening deportation, court documents show.—
Colin Mixson,
New York Daily News,
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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Days later, a note was sent directly to the Guthrie family, allegedly from a man living in Hawthorne, that authorities now say was an impostor.—
Hannah Fry,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The film tells the true and twisted tale of a deceiver of land and folk, who, defying her birth as a woman, comported herself as a man and committed many a wicked deed.—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
20 Jan. 2026
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Islamic eschatology warned of a deceiver who distorts perception, blurring reality.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
15 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
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
-
First up was Ben Shapiro, who described Tucker Carlson and others as grifters and charlatans, guilty of misleading their audiences with falsehoods and conspiracy theories.—
Jonathan J. Cooper,
Fortune,
19 Dec. 2025
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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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
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Godard might have come across as a species of poseur – a pretentious, quote-spouting mountebank – but his way of seeing was genuinely new.—
Peter Rainer,
Christian Science Monitor,
13 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pretender.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pretender. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.
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