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 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
Discernment in separating potential winners from the pretenders is a positive, if sometimes manic and messy, process.
—Michael Santoli, CNBC, 10 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
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
Discernment in separating potential winners from the pretenders is a positive, if sometimes manic and messy, process.
—Michael Santoli, CNBC, 10 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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Broderick asked whether the government picked the five states first and then did research into whether there were fraud claims there.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
24 Jan. 2026
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According to the indictment, Brett Rosen also regularly used the site to defend himself against accusations of fraud and market manipulation at least as early as 2021.—
Alex Riggins,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Too sweet to be true, he is seen as a corporate fake marketed to children by The Man.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
24 Jan. 2026
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In the meantime, prepare and arm your self and your company to better spot the fakes—start with video.—
Dean DeBiase,
Forbes.com,
24 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The reversible set includes a duvet cover and matching shams, available in multiple sizes and a range of soft pastel hues.—
Jacquelyn McGilvray,
PEOPLE,
22 Jan. 2026
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Let’s be fair for a moment — or at least as fair as this sham of a process deserves.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
21 Jan. 2026
Noun
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In such places – and especially when the would-be ally’s role is highly visible and entails heavy responsibility – people are vulnerable to impostor feelings.—
John M. LaVelle,
The Conversation,
9 Dec. 2025
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Now, artificial intelligence has become the latest battleground for digital impostors.—
Staff,
FOXNews.com,
28 Nov. 2025
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
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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
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Of course, there is also plenty of Trump flattery along with paeans to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his cockamamie make-America-sick-again agenda, as one medical charlatan nods to another.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Mercury News,
10 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 25 Jan. 2026.
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