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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Officials allege Redzepagic — who recently lived in Florida — was involved in a fraud scheme between May 2021 and March 2025.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
13 Feb. 2026
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French police have detained nine people in relation to a ticketing fraud scheme that may have cost the Louvre €10 million ($12 million).—
News Desk,
Artforum,
13 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The overwhelming motive for the early fakes was to provide entertainment — about three-quarters of the images in the exhibition were created for this purpose, Rooseboom said.—
Lianne Kolirin,
CNN Money,
5 Feb. 2026
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Drake had taken a risk, executed the perfect fake.—
Tim Rohan,
NBC news,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Sarah Sherman Samuel transforms high-quality hemp bedding with a tiger illustration—drawn by her son, no less—to make a set of shams perfect for elevating your bedding set with custom-like details.—
Julia Harrison,
Architectural Digest,
10 Feb. 2026
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The set comes with two shams and is reversible with a simple solid white side.—
Shea Simmons,
Southern Living,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Then, the note was revealed to have been the work of an imposter.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
6 Feb. 2026
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But the woman turned out to be an impostor from Kansas with at least 30 aliases.—
Kristine Phillips,
IndyStar,
5 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
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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 15 Feb. 2026.
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