imposture
noun
im·pos·ture im-ˈpäs-chər 
1
: the act or practice of deceiving by means of an assumed character or name
2
: an instance of imposture
Example Sentences
He was accused of imposture.
Recent Examples on the Web The narrator is an antihero with a genius for imposture. 
Judith Thurman, The New Yorker, 20 June 2022 By the end, this newly bold Portia, empowered by imposture, is more singer than speaker. Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2022 This form of imposture has a pedigree — or a past, anyway. Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2021 Fake men can’t live: the cost of the imposture proves too high, and the good fake men—the ones like Vision—will take their own lives or let themselves be killed. Stephanie Burt, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2021 When Daniel is released and skips his work assignment at a sawmill to pose as a new priest in a small town, his imposture — as Father Tomasz — verges on blasphemy. Armond White, National Review, 20 Feb. 2020 And who wants to be the party-pooper who says that some kinds of imposture are less fair than others? Ty Burr, BostonGlobe.com, 12 July 2018 Thus begins a chain of machinations, impostures, and stratagems, including mare’s sweat, pirates, cross-dressing, and mistaken identity. John Timpane, Philly.com, 14 Sep. 2017 The actual lady’s maid (wryly mocking Stephanie Goodman) is fully on to Bludgepot’s imposture and watches his scrambling with a sardonic smirk. Sam Hurwitt, The Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2017 See More
Judith Thurman, The New Yorker, 20 June 2022 By the end, this newly bold Portia, empowered by imposture, is more singer than speaker. Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2022 This form of imposture has a pedigree — or a past, anyway. Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2021 Fake men can’t live: the cost of the imposture proves too high, and the good fake men—the ones like Vision—will take their own lives or let themselves be killed. Stephanie Burt, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2021 When Daniel is released and skips his work assignment at a sawmill to pose as a new priest in a small town, his imposture — as Father Tomasz — verges on blasphemy. Armond White, National Review, 20 Feb. 2020 And who wants to be the party-pooper who says that some kinds of imposture are less fair than others? Ty Burr, BostonGlobe.com, 12 July 2018 Thus begins a chain of machinations, impostures, and stratagems, including mare’s sweat, pirates, cross-dressing, and mistaken identity. John Timpane, Philly.com, 14 Sep. 2017 The actual lady’s maid (wryly mocking Stephanie Goodman) is fully on to Bludgepot’s imposture and watches his scrambling with a sardonic smirk. Sam Hurwitt, The Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2017 See More Word History
Etymology
Late Latin impostura, from Latin impositus, impostus, past participle of imponere
First Known Use
1537, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Kids Definition
imposture
noun
im·pos·ture im-ˈpäs-chər
: the act of deceiving others by pretending to be someone else
impostures
noun
as in fictions
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- fictions
- imitations
- affectations
- pretences
- pretenses
- representations
- insinuations
- make-belief
- simulations
- masquerades
- demonstrations
- resemblances
- likenesses
- displays
- make-believe
- poses
- disguises
- images
- masks
- effects
- implications
- cloaks
- surfaces
- glosses
- shapes
- facades
- suggestions
- façades
- exteriors
- fronts
- airs
- hints
- shells
- impressions
- semblances
- veneers
- seemings
- patinas
- appearances
- patinae
- names
- Potemkin villages
- guises
- outwards
- shows
- faces