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
In the ensuing decade, the Yankees have cycled through at least 18 pretenders to Jeter's legacy.
—
Jon Vankin, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 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
Stars welcome these challenges while pretenders struggle with reality.
—Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 30 May 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
Jon Vankin, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 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
Stars welcome these challenges while pretenders struggle with reality.
—Jodie Cook, Forbes.com, 30 May 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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Meanwhile, the rise of AI and sophisticated fraud techniques means organizations are managing today's threats with yesterday's tools.—
Chris McHenry,
Forbes.com,
7 Aug. 2025
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The audit said the foundations’ inaccurate financial reporting raises the risk of fraud and misappropriation of funds.—
Kristen Taketa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
6 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Mordecai, re-signed earlier in the day after a week on the street, fumbled after a play-action fake and finished 3-of-6 for 21 yards.—
Cam Inman,
Mercury News,
10 Aug. 2025
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Este, who worked in a restaurant, would comb through its stash of lost or confiscated IDs, searching for suitable fakes for her and her sisters.—
Hannah Jackson,
Vogue,
20 June 2025
Noun
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Flores also contends his Texans’ interview was a sham.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
14 Aug. 2025
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The quilt set comes with two matching shams and is 50% off in two sizes, but is selling fast.—
Jacqueline Tempera,
Better Homes & Gardens,
3 July 2025
Noun
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Among those reports, according to the FTC, Customs and Board Protection impostors ranked as the fourth most common with 3,466 reports in the first four months of 2025.—
Susan Tompor,
USA Today,
30 July 2025
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And, of course, there was the impostor Case Keenum, a miscast backup, and the high-maintenance Russell Wilson, who hit the right notes off the field, especially in visits to hospitals, but never found his fit in coach Sean Payton’s offense or the locker room.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
26 July 2025
Noun
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The gloomiest of the adverse reactions is that charlatans will insidiously attempt to convince others that AGI is indeed supernatural.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
21 May 2025
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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
Noun
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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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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
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The Spare Room by Helen Garner This is a book about a woman, Helen, who decides to let her old friend, Nicola, who is dying of cancer, come and stay with her in Melbourne while Nicola sees a local quack doctor.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
21 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pretender.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pretender. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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